EC1
On a break
this is an article by Hugh Taylor from ATR site..hope its ok to post here..he does post I think on here
interesting article and a subject we had many a discussion about last year..particularly that Ascot meeting
Hugh Taylor writes,
The big betting race of the day takes place at Newmarket, in the shape of the Coral.co.uk Sprint Handicap, and there are two or three runners in that race that interest me, but unfortunately my advice is to leave Newmarket alone from a betting point of view. With the stalls back on the stands side, and rain forecast, it's anybody's guess as to whether we will see the same degree of stands-side bias that we saw on day two of the Guineas meeting; most serious punters nowadays are only too aware that draw biases are no longer guaranteed to be replicated from one meeting to another, and unfortunately my plea for tracks to try and give us some indicator of where the best ground may be by giving going stick readings across the track, rather than just one "master reading", has largely fallen on deaf ears. I have had just four replies to my email to clerks, three of which were from the clerks at Chester, Wolverhampton and Pontefract, which don't have straight tracks, where my suggestion wouldn't apply, and the lack of an overall response to what I thought was a positive request really does leave me shaking my head.
On the positive side, I did have a very helpful email from Andrew Cooper, clerk at Sandown and Epsom, who had already shown his initiative last year when producing (without any prompting from me!) stick readings for the stands side as well as the far side at Epsom. I spoke to Andrew at Sandown on Thursday evening, and he has promised to provide stick readings on both sides of the track for the Derby meeting next week (TurfTrax themselves provide the readings for the big meetings), and if the case arises where there is overnight rain at Sandown he has said he'll try and provide readings for the "under the hedge" stands side at Sandown as well. I'm also fairly confident that Chris Stickels will again provide stick readings for the far side, middle and stands side at Royal Ascot, as he has done since last year's controversial Royal meeting. Sadly, it doesn't seem many other clerks are keen to be on board; I don't know why this should be, but there does seem to be a feeling that many clerks are very suspicious of the going stick overall as a guide to the going, as it often tells them something different to what their own experience of how the track rides is telling them. This I can understand for sure, but my suggestion for stick readings across the track is comparing like with like, not two differing methods of assessment; I can understand that it must be frustrating when the stick readings are not consistent with how the track is going to ride, but what I am asking is for stick readings to be compared to each other, across the track. This, to me, could turn out to be the most helpful long-term use of the going stick.
Perhaps clerks are afraid of the stick readings revealing a track bias, and that they will be considered to have done a poor job if they admit there is a favoured part of the track. Let's be in no doubt; track biases are an inevitable part of turf racing, and it doesn't mean the clerk has screwed up if there is a bias. What is wrong, however, is trying to get rid of a bias by watering, and/or without telling the racing and betting public. This is a really important topic - if people in my situation find themselves advising people not to have a bet, and if punters lose confidence in betting on Flat racing, this is long-term going to have an impact on the Levy. Sadly, we still are not receiving enough information; for instance, the BHA website as of 9.15 this morning reveals that Beverley are reporting a going stick reading of "9 at Wednesday at 16.30", with no explanation for the lack of update; given the difficulty in interpreting how the straight at Beverley is going to ride these days, I'm amazed they are not giving racing people and punters more up-to-date information.
interesting article and a subject we had many a discussion about last year..particularly that Ascot meeting
Hugh Taylor writes,
The big betting race of the day takes place at Newmarket, in the shape of the Coral.co.uk Sprint Handicap, and there are two or three runners in that race that interest me, but unfortunately my advice is to leave Newmarket alone from a betting point of view. With the stalls back on the stands side, and rain forecast, it's anybody's guess as to whether we will see the same degree of stands-side bias that we saw on day two of the Guineas meeting; most serious punters nowadays are only too aware that draw biases are no longer guaranteed to be replicated from one meeting to another, and unfortunately my plea for tracks to try and give us some indicator of where the best ground may be by giving going stick readings across the track, rather than just one "master reading", has largely fallen on deaf ears. I have had just four replies to my email to clerks, three of which were from the clerks at Chester, Wolverhampton and Pontefract, which don't have straight tracks, where my suggestion wouldn't apply, and the lack of an overall response to what I thought was a positive request really does leave me shaking my head.
On the positive side, I did have a very helpful email from Andrew Cooper, clerk at Sandown and Epsom, who had already shown his initiative last year when producing (without any prompting from me!) stick readings for the stands side as well as the far side at Epsom. I spoke to Andrew at Sandown on Thursday evening, and he has promised to provide stick readings on both sides of the track for the Derby meeting next week (TurfTrax themselves provide the readings for the big meetings), and if the case arises where there is overnight rain at Sandown he has said he'll try and provide readings for the "under the hedge" stands side at Sandown as well. I'm also fairly confident that Chris Stickels will again provide stick readings for the far side, middle and stands side at Royal Ascot, as he has done since last year's controversial Royal meeting. Sadly, it doesn't seem many other clerks are keen to be on board; I don't know why this should be, but there does seem to be a feeling that many clerks are very suspicious of the going stick overall as a guide to the going, as it often tells them something different to what their own experience of how the track rides is telling them. This I can understand for sure, but my suggestion for stick readings across the track is comparing like with like, not two differing methods of assessment; I can understand that it must be frustrating when the stick readings are not consistent with how the track is going to ride, but what I am asking is for stick readings to be compared to each other, across the track. This, to me, could turn out to be the most helpful long-term use of the going stick.
Perhaps clerks are afraid of the stick readings revealing a track bias, and that they will be considered to have done a poor job if they admit there is a favoured part of the track. Let's be in no doubt; track biases are an inevitable part of turf racing, and it doesn't mean the clerk has screwed up if there is a bias. What is wrong, however, is trying to get rid of a bias by watering, and/or without telling the racing and betting public. This is a really important topic - if people in my situation find themselves advising people not to have a bet, and if punters lose confidence in betting on Flat racing, this is long-term going to have an impact on the Levy. Sadly, we still are not receiving enough information; for instance, the BHA website as of 9.15 this morning reveals that Beverley are reporting a going stick reading of "9 at Wednesday at 16.30", with no explanation for the lack of update; given the difficulty in interpreting how the straight at Beverley is going to ride these days, I'm amazed they are not giving racing people and punters more up-to-date information.
