Chief Stipe Posted October 13 Share Posted October 13 Caulfield track pattern review | RACING.COM www.racing.com The Melbourne Racing Club will review its track preparations after Saturday’s meeting at Caulfield where there were accusations of track bias. MRC chairman John Kanga and Caulfield track manager Sam Bennetts said an in-depth review would be conducted in the aftermath of the race meeting. “Our team will review and evaluate the track performance tomorrow, taking into account sectional timings and tempo, as well as other factors such as wind,” Kanga said. “Our aim is always to present a track that is fair for all runners, but track preparation is an imprecise science.” Bennetts, who was appointed to the position in May, said he had spent a lot of time thinking about what could have been done differently in the past 24 hours. “These days happen, but we don’t want them to happen on these big meetings. We will have an in-depth review of the full year, see what we can nail down and improve.” “We were happy with it at the start, but after race four things changed. There’s room for vast improvement on a feature day like this and the industry deserves better on these feature days.” Bennetts said the track raced on the drier side of what he anticipated which was demonstrated with the track upgrade after the fourth race. “We will look at the soil moisture component,” he said. Bennetts said they would examine the rail placements in the lead-up to the race meeting, which would include the winter months. Bennetts said the rail would be out 12 metres for Wednesday’s meeting, which is where it was last year. They were already putting water on the track. He said for the Caulfield Cup meeting the rail would most likely be at the 3m mark. Kanga said while a number of races were won by horses on the pace, Jimmystar and Bellatrix Star won from midfield positions and Antino from the rear. While some jockeys and trainers lambasted the track for playing to on-pacers, others such as Danny O’Brien gave it his support. O’Brien posted on X that it was the best track for the spring and Caulfield had rewarded on-speed tactical horses for 100 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 I reckon it was one of Macdonalds poor rides in the Guineas and he has them from time to time. The lack of pace in the race didn't help and no Jockey was prepared to to step up. I think the bias argument is over rated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 Did anyone see the ride on Antino? A case of Blake Shinn showing some initiative. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 Yes! An astonishing ride. Shinn must have instinctively felt they were or were about to slacken the pace approx half way. Great ride however some tracks will not let you get way with that and Flemington immediately comes to mind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chief Stipe Posted October 14 Author Share Posted October 14 19 minutes ago, Wingman said: Yes! An astonishing ride. Shinn must have instinctively felt they were or were about to slacken the pace approx half way. Great ride however some tracks will not let you get way with that and Flemington immediately comes to mind. Therefore you ride your horse accordingly. Flemington has a big sweeping bend and a 450m straight so you can get away with a slack tempo early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingman Posted October 14 Share Posted October 14 He made his move down the back straight and did not cover the ground he would have at Flemington. So at Flemington you cover extra ground and the patiently ridden strong finishers have another 140 m (Caulfield approx 310-320 m straight) to pick up the bolter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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