Winning Post-1600m, coverage quite bare in places, outside lane three has more grass cover but walks slower. Some fill across the inside lanes but still it’s a good place to be. Walks between a 5 and a 6, definitely more give in it from the 1800m mark.
600m-1000m, Very even across, coverage is better here than the side. Very little sandfill with a good base for them to run over. Slightly more wear approaching the 1000m mark across the inside 3 lanes but not major. No lanes of significance, walks a soft 5.
1200m chute-800m, good ground and thick coverage. Slightly more wear in lanes 2 and 3 but inconsequential.
1000m-400m, inside 2 lanes is fresher ground in this section with the rail being out wide for previous meetings. Grass cover is thicker closer to the fence but don’t think it will translate to faster ground. Might actually be quicker off the fence in lanes 3 and 4 where the wear is more significant. Entrance to the straight walks softer hard up against the rail. This section is a soft 5.
400m-Winning Post, much more wear in lanes 4,5,6 with the inside few lanes looking fresher. Still feel hard fence has more moisture in it despite being cleaner. Any overnight dew or rain will slow these inside lanes down.
Verdict: Expecting the track to race well and be in the Soft 5 range. The inside lanes are fresher ground from the 1000m mark but more likely to hold moisture. I think you’ll see a very fair track but as the day goes on they might avoid lane 1 and possibly 2 from the 600m mark.
W T Clarken, K-B Racing, The Thong, B Pollock, W R Crabb, M C Hartigan, D Wong, M J Williams, T Romano, Teedum Racing, R W Slade, N R Scott, R K Pollard, G R Longford, High and Mighty, Dr S Gardner, Stonewall, J S Sellen & C A Mullins
D L Ludeman, S W Wilde, Mrs V A Ludeman, T J McNally, B O'byrne, R Ackland, P Aspropotamitis, C A Brown, M A Daly, P C Daly, Mrs M L Mcnally, I D Garvey, G Gleeson, P Gleeson, Mrs M F Lenehan, D Paton & P Rains
W T Clarken, P J McLean, G Willoughby, C J Elliott, D A Rose, B Pike, T Lillis, P Kelton, J P Kelton, S G Willoughby, P J Marron, B Azzopardi, R Murphy, A K Stewart, D C Doyle & M J Kearney
