Towcester

H

harry

At the Start
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Apr 16, 2005
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Does anyone else feel uncomfortable watching horses race at Towcester?
They look like they are likely to drop dead at any time.
Gruelling course.
 
its that tiring even the punters collapse

its not on its own though Harry..some races i've watched this season elsewhere...i've dreaded watching the last circuit..these animals give the lot on these surfaces
 
they rarely see firm ground though these days Archie...with watering.

What puts these NH surfaces in context is that the slowest you see flat races run on is about 35 lengths slow per mile..probably get abandoned at 40 lengths slow. NH races run on much slower surfaces..double that and more...treble that at Exeter other day
 
What I meant by my OP was the spectacle of it.
It just looks awful.
Most courses, the finishes appears to be mostly improvers gaining pace. Towcester seems to be which horse can make it home.
 
archie said:
NH bred horses are an entirely different animal to flat breds in terms of what they can handle.
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Back in the day, maybe. The lines are ever-blurring. Look at how many NH-marketed stallions are by Sadler's Wells or one of his sons these days.
 
Cheltenham often gets referred to as the stiffest track in the country but in truth it doesn't even come close.

Towester is much stiffer and one the layers like. Horses that look to be cantering 3 out can end up tailed off.


Kelso has a very stiff uphill finish much stiffer then Cheltenham and so does Carlisle.

The undulations and the changes in speed can exhaust horses and probably that's what make the Cheltenham Hill look stiffer.

Chepstow is another course with undulations and on soft/heavy ground horses are forever finishing legless there

Other course like Exeter Ascot Hexam Plumpton Sandown don't take many prisoners if they are lacking in stamina

Overall I think Towester is regarded as the stiffest track in the country.
 
Not sure about Ascot - the run up from Swinley Bottom can have many a horse dropping out like a stone in the home straight .
 
Think you're misreading mate..I said Ascot doesn't take many prisoners................(the meaning being if you are not taken prisoner your shot on the spot)
 
Lowest point to highest point on each course...at Ascot = 60ft..Towcester = 100ft..pontefract = 90ft ....Cheltenham = 40ft...kelso = 25 ft...carlisle = 75ft

can't think of one stiffer than Towcester like you said T..i actually thought Kelso would have been stiffer than that
 
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Kelso climbs to its highest point as they go away from the stands/winning-post, and the run-in is on the level....and possibly even slightly downhill. Chepstow would be another example of the high-point of the track being beyond the winning line.

Presumably, the elevation change/rising ground matters most if it is an uphill finish, rather than there being an uphill pull somewhere else on the course?
 
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yes..most courses do have the stand at highest point..but chepstow..is just an up an downey job like a lot of Irish tracks

the proper collar ones have been mentioned i think..can't think of any other ones...Kelso surprised me .thought the climb was greater.....but sometimes i get confused between that course and Hexham..don't know why..and hexham is a tough finish
 
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i always confuse them ....hexham does look fantastic view wise.

The only time i been to Cheltenham i was amazed at the view of the whole course..i was in the triangle bit opposite the stand...the view down the track blew me away with the hills in the background. I must go again at some point..1985 that was..a life ago.
 
My mare won at Towcester one day in February a few years ago - someone who works there told me before the race it was almost called off the ground was so bad, it was desperate. She didn't like the ground at all , jockey said she kept going as she was just so willing. Unfortunately the trainer then got it in his head that was the kind of ground she liked, although repeatedly told by said jockey and me that she didn't. Only half the field finished and were strung out pretty badly. Was bad enough at the time as I thought she wouldn't like the ground but when I have watched it back it looks far worse. She was absolutely pooped bless her.
 
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This was one race at Towcester which some of us on here enjoyed greatly at the time. It was my one and only visit to Towcester but I was impressed. Facilities were new and well appointed, there was a good attendance thanks to the free admission, and we were looked after well. When it came to our race we were brought upstairs to a box with a fine view of the track. Racing was almost called off that day but they respected the conditions and took it handy in the early part of the race. They were kicking up surface water in the bottom straight, but the race only started to develop as they started the climb back towards the stands. Our boy started to get after the leader on the approach to the straight and wore him down inside the final furlong. For my part it was a great introduction to ownership, even if Bally Conn never delivered for us on that early promise, and I've always kept a share in a horse ever since.


http://www.attheraces.com/form/horse/bally-conn/IRE/2347137
 
Grasshopper said:
Kelso climbs to its highest point as they go away from the stands/winning-post, and the run-in is on the level....and possibly even slightly downhill. Chepstow would be another example of the high-point of the track being beyond the winning line.

Presumably, the elevation change/rising ground matters most if it is an uphill finish, rather than there being an uphill pull somewhere else on the course?
Click to expand...

Put that fooking bong down Grassy you're stoned.

KELSO: 100% it's run in from the final bend is uphill...it also sits on a clay surface which makes it very grueling when it rains...add to that the distance and the opinions of all the jockeys who have ridden in winter conditions and they will tell you it's a stiffer climb than Cheltenham.....heard them say it once I've heard said a hundred times.

Great for a long sledge ride in the winter :)

c_kels.jpg
 
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