27/10/2000 edition

Moonee Valley Racetrack 

It is timely with the Weight For Age Championship of Australasia, the W.S.Cox Plate, to be run on Saturday to mention a few words about the racetrack.

For many punters Moonee Valley is one of the toughest tracks on which to back a winner. It is very much a specialists' track. Racing systems fail at Moonee Valley. Standard computer generated selections also do not fare too well either at Moonee Valley. We have on our site recent Punt to Win articles which look at how to win at Moonee Valley. There is also our detailed  Racetrack Review which will help you back horses suited to the track.

Horse Racing Tactics

As a general rule the results of  races run over 2000 metres and more are much trickier to predict than races run over 1200 metres to 1600 metres. While the significance of the jockey should never be underestimated, the jockey's skills become even more important  once race distances reach around 2000 metres.

Races over this distance become much more a battle of tactics. It is because of this that the jockey's role  becomes even more important. It also means that the best horse often does not win but rather the best ride wins the race. This is particularly the case when you have fields of weak, inconsistent animals. Just have a look at some of the Saturday races over 2500 metres in Adelaide as an example or even the plodders race in Sydney a week ago won by Strange which had two wins from 51 starts before that success. 

Best jockeys are very important.
The best jockeys are excellent judges of pace and are prepared to alter tactics if the race is run at too slow pace. Alternatively jockeys like Brian York can lead and set a slow pace which is just fast enough to keep the other jockeys satisfied  and so their horse gets a cosy run in front unchallenged and the race develops into a sprint home. This of cause means backmarkers have no chance. 

Watch out for the tearaway leader.
Another factor to take into account is the tear away leader in these races. When a very ordinary horse leads by 10 lengths sometimes it manages to steal the race but  usually it collapses in a screaming heap. However the damage has been done. Often the field is broken up. This usually produces upset results. At Randwick last Saturday Maltese Beauty, a horse with above average ability, started at 9/1 in a Listed race over 2400 metres. It was a tearaway leader and nearly stole the race. The winner Edward Brae paid  $55.60 on SuperTab.

Three year old races are also usually particularly tough betting propositions once you get over 1600 metres. At the Caulfield Cup meeting , the Norman Robinson Stakes, a Group 2 race for three year olds, was run over 2000 metres. The winner Royale Exit paid $20.40 on the NSW tote. It had seven starts prior to that win for only two placings. The first four horses in the betting market in that 12 horse field all failed to run a place! 

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