Winning Post-1500m: Low traffic and low-speed area but the inside two lanes are a little fresher, but beyond that is only very minimal wear so won’t be an issue.
1500m-800m (back straight): A little bit inconsistent across the lanes but hard to pick the best ground. Slightly more fill in lane 3 from previous rail positions but it won't be consequential. Still a good amount of give in the surface and I thought it walked deep in the ‘4’ range.
1300m-800m (chute): It doesn’t walk like quick ground in this section. Sits in the ‘4’ range but slightly firmer than the back straight. There's a thicker cover of grass in lane 2 along with some markings from the previous rail position which might mean slightly slower ground.
800m-400m: Previous rail position means there’s three-and-a-half lanes of fresh ground towards the fence. Noticeably more fill beyond that which will be a disadvantage to horses peeling into the four-wide line. Still enough give in it to think it will be a genuine ‘4’ and a fair way off an upgrade even with fine weather.
400m-Winning Post: The inside three lanes walks cleaner and should be an advantage to horses either up on speed or cornering close to the fence. Lanes 4 and 5 have heavier marking and sand fill but beyond that it improves slightly.
Verdict: We haven't been in the True position since July and the last two meetings have been with the rail out 7m (inside was inferior ground) for the business end of the racing. Not a surprise to see some fresher ground towards the fence from the 800m mark. I'd imagine looping wide from the 600m will be a hard task, rather be backing horses closer to the fence and ideally on-pace. Perfect amount of give in the track at time of walking, expecting it to race in the Good 4 range.
