 Tim Carroll 's Bio | |
|---|---|
| Tim started off as a jockey in Australia before pursuing a media career. He is a highly experienced and respected racing presenter who has been based in England since 2005. Tim has travelled the world covering many of the major meetings, including Royal Ascot, The Epsom Derby, The International meeting from Sha Tin, The Dubai World Cup, The Everest, The Saudi Cup and The Breeders. He is currently a presenter for Sky Sports Racing, specialising in both the local and international scene. Tim is a regular contributor to the At The Races Website where his twice weekly tipping column on Hong Kong racing has gathered a strong following. | |
York Racecourse – Track Analysis (Yorkshire Oaks Day):
York is a left-handed track. Races over 1000m and 1200m are run on a straight course whilst races over 1400m start from a chute that joins the main straight in a dog leg shape. The same chute is used for races over 4400m. Races over 2800m and 3251m also start from a chute whilst all other starting points are on the round course. Barrier 1 is always drawn on the inside of the track.
York is a high-quality large course with sweeping turns and no undulations. Considered one of the fairest tracks in Great Britain, the straight is approximately 900m and although the layout of the course suits strong galloping types, horses who get to the front early in the straight often will not run down, especially on testing ground.
There are seven races for coverage on Yorkshire Oaks Day. The two races on the straight course are the 1200m G2 Lowther Stakes and 2yo Allowance. Over 1200m they tend to mostly come down the centre of the track, but will normally look to head to the grandstand rail when the ground is soft, thus high draws are favourable on rain affected ground in larger fields.
Five races on the round course will be covered on the raceday as well. The 1400m 2yo Handicap and 3yo+ Fillies & Mares Handicap, although the advantage looks minimal, horses from middle to high gates have a good record overall. For the 1575m 3yo+ Handicap and 2371m Listed Galtres Stakes, there is no draw bias, but keep in mind they do tend to head to the middle and sometimes the grandstand rail when they come into the straight, especially on rain affected ground.
The start of the feature race, G1 2371m Yorkshire Oaks, is on the far right hand side of the course and runners have a decent straight stretch before going around a slight bend then heading down the side straight and around the swooping turn into the lengthy home straight. Whilst barriers are of little importance, keep in mind they are likely to come down the middle or even head to the grandstand rail on straightening, especially on rain-affected ground. High quality fillies including ENABLE, LOVE and THE FUGUE (2013 Hong Kong Vase runner-up) have won the race. The Yorkshire Oaks is open to both fillies and mares, and 3yo fillies, who have a 9-pounds age allowance, have won eight of the last ten renewals.
Last year’s Yorkshire Oaks was run on Good to firm ground with a field of ten runners going to post. On leaving the stalls SAVETHELASTDANCE, was sent to the front to take up the running, whilst POPTRONIC sat in second on the outside with NOVAKAI, WARM HEART & BLUESTOCKING tracking the pace, as several, including FREE WIND and SEA SILK ROAD, were held-up at the back. SAVETHELASTDANCE ensured the race was run at an even gallop, which meant there was very little change in the order of the contest. As they came into the straight all runners elected to stay on the inside, and the race started to develop. 600m from the finish SAVETHELASTDANCE was being pushed along but finding plenty for pressure as her stable mate, WARM HEART, loomed up seemingly with plenty to offer, whilst both FREE WIND and SEA SILK ROAD picked up strongly from the back, but both encountered traffic problems. WARM HEART grabbed SAVETHELASTDANCE 300m from the finish, but FREE WIND was now out and laid down the gauntlet to WARM HEART and the pair fought out a close finish over the concluding stages with WARM HEART prevailing by a lip to hold off the slightly unlucky FREE WIND with SAVETHELASTDANCE in third in a time that was 2.94 seconds faster than standard.
The weather forecast this year is suggesting clear sunny days in the lead-up and on race day, and if correct the going is likely to be Good with a strong possibility of Good to Firm going.
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