 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 (Nunthorpe Stakes 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 Nunthorpe Stakes Day. The five races on the round course are the 1400m 2yo Maiden, the 1575m 3yo 0-105 Handicap, the 2051m 3yo+ Fillies & Mares 0-105 Handicap, the 2371m 3yo+ Handicap, and the 3251m G2 Lonsdale Cup. Runners will start from a chute that joins the main straight in a dog leg shape over 1400m. For the 1400m 2yo Maiden, although the advantage looks minimal, horses from middle to high gates have a good record overall. For the rest of the four races, 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.
The two races on the straight course are the 1200m G2 Gimcrack Stakes and the feature race 1000m G1 Nunthorpe Stakes. 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. Over 1000m, it is considered that there is little draw bias, although they do normally look to go to the centre of the track, but can drift to the far side over the concluding stages.
The feature race, G1 Nunthorpe Stakes over 1000m, usually sees a large field. Most winners have come predominately down the middle or grandstand. Favourites have a poor record with only two successful since 2014.
Last year’s Nunthorpe Stakes was run on Good to Firm ground with a field of sixteen going to post. On leaving the stalls they split into three groups with LIVE IN THE DREAM flying the gates to lead on the far side as the favourite HIGHFIELD PRINCESS sat in behind chasing the leader, whilst the 2YO, BIG EVS, led the group that came down the centre and AESOP’S FABLES led the two that elected to come down the grandstand rail. At the halfway mark LIVE IN THE DREAM was still two-lengths clear and bowling along strongly on the quick ground. 400m from home, BIG EVS was pushed along and under pressure as was AESOP’S FABLES on the near side, HIGHFIELD PRINCESS was still there pitching but struggling to get to the leader as BRADSWELL and MAKAROVA started to pick up strongly from the back. However, LIVE IN THE DREAM was relishing the conditions running the race of his life to make all with HIGHFIELD PRINCESS gallant in defeat a length behind the winner and BRADSWELL picked up the pieces late for a never nearer third, three-quarters-of-a-length behind the second in a time that was 0.53 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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