Redcar

Redcar is a flat type course located in Trees Valley within the county of North Yorkshire, England. It is owned by the Redcar Racing Company and is listed for screening by Racing UK.

History

The course was opened in the first half of the 1870s. A permanent course was laid three years later, and there have been no major closures since then. That included a new grandstand, which replaced a temporary one that had been put up –and was charged by- a Mr. Adamson.

Part of the land was sold in 1981 in order to raise funds for another upgrade under the chairmanship and management of Lord Zetland.

A 2006 upgrade saw the course scoop the Neil Wyatt Groundstaff award, a feat that has seen it grow the number of visiting racegoers in the past decade.

Course

The course is oval shaped, flat from start to finish. It stretches for a distance of 1-mile 4-furlongs, with banked tight bends which call for a sudden deceleration during races. This is made up for by the 1-mile straight stretch; the only ‘straight and flat complete mile’ in the UK.

Prior to the 2017 season, the course received a £200,000 facelift, expected to improve both viewer and racer experience.

Access is easy by rail or road, given the clear signposting from the A1 and the short distance –five-minutes’ walk- from the closest train station. Admission is free for racegoers aged 17 and under, and the prices are varied for age categories from 17 years upward. Redcar say they don’thave a dress code, but ‘encourage’ smart casual and do not admit people in sports clothing or ‘untidy’ dressing.

Races

There are between 17 and 20 meetings in a calendar year, running between early April and mid-October. The Two-Year-Old Trophy, Guisborough Stakes and the Zetland Gold Cup are the headline races at the Redcar.

Under a mile races often descend on Redcar in order to exploit the ‘straight mile.’

Will Stradivarius Sign Off with Long Distance Cup Win?

Stradivarius has reeled off 10 wins on the bounce to make a claim to be considered one of the great horses of the modern era. John Gosden’s charge has excelled on the track since the start of the 2018 campaign, winning every event he has competed in during the timespan.

Gosden will be desperate for his charge to bow out of the season on a high note with a victory at the British Champions Long Distance Cup. Stradivarius last tasted defeat in the event at the end of 2017, losing to Order of St George.

He atoned for his loss with a brilliant performance in the Long Distance Cup in the last campaign and will not attempt to join an elite company of competitors to win the race for a second time. Gosden’s charge is backed in the horse racing betting odds as the 1/2 favourite for the crown, and he has established himself far and above the rest of the field throughout the term.

It would be a huge surprise to see Stradivarius fail to win for the 11th time in a row. Kew Gardens and Dee Ex Bee will attempt to provide a challenge, but the Irish Thoroughbred has been dominant with Frankie Dettori at the reins.

He began his 2019 campaign at the Yorkshire Cup, and although he did not enjoy the best of starts to the race, the bay colt was still able to claim a comfortable win ahead of Southern France by powering away down the stretch. Next on the agenda as the defence of his Ascot Gold Cup title, and again with Dettori in the saddle, he timed his run to perfection to surge away from the rest of the field. Dee Ex Bee provided the competition, but Stradivarius claimed the win by a length.

The two horses would enjoy a fierce battle at Glorious Goodwood in the Goodwood Cup. On this occasion, Dee Ex Bee appeared to have got the better of Gosden’s charge. However, Stradivarius used the last of his pace down the final furlong to edge out his rival by a neck on the line.

 

The Lonsdale Cup provided an opportunity for revenge for Mark Johnston and his horse. The five-year-old was the favourite, despite the improvement of his rival last time out. Stradivarius made a statement with arguably his strongest performance of the campaign. He powered away from Dee Ex Bee to finish one-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of his opponent, earning yet another berth in the winners’ circle.

Gosden opted to place Stradivarius in the Doncaster Cup in September, and without the presence of his rival, the five-year-old was able to canter to an easy victory over the field after leading from the early stages of the race. The Long Distance Cup is on the agenda, although Gosden has claimed that he has concerns about soft ground ahead of the event.

It would be a surprise to see him withdraw Stradivarius from the race given his imperious form and record at Ascot. His future beyond that could be up for debate given the amount of time he has had on the track, although the lure of a third Ascot Gold Cup is tempting for owner Bjorn Nielsen. It would be fitting to see Stradivarius go for one last honour at the Long Distance Cup to enhance his legacy.

 

Horse for Courses: The Course Specialist

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‘Horses for courses’ is a hackneyed phrase that’s regularly bandied about in the world of horse racing, and beyond. However, of the 60 racecourses on the British mainland, many have inherent idiosyncrasies in terms of shape, topology and other characteristics that favour one type of horse over another. If a horse runs well over a particular course and distance, connections may be more likely to return it to the same course and distance, maybe more than once, leading to the possibility of a so-called ‘course specialist’

The steeplechase course at Fontwell Park, for example, is a sharp, left-handed, figure-of-eight, which is unsuitable for long-striding, galloping types. Course specialists at Fontwell Park include Mercers Court, trained by Neil King, who is 3-3 over fences at the West Sussex course, but just 5-26 over fences elsewhere. Bangor-on-Dee, in North Wales, features a more orthodox, but nonetheless left-handed, sharp and flat steeplechase course, which is on the turn almost throughout. Wandrin Star, trained by Kim Bailey, has won both starts over fences at Bangor-on-Dee but, aside from a point-to-point victory, is winless in nine starts over fences elsewhere.

On the Flat, similar principles apply to many British racecourses, including Brighton, Catterick and Chester, which are sharp, or very sharp, and feature pronounced gradients and undulations that count against big, resolute galloping types. By contrast, Doncaster, which is flat, wide and galloping in character, is very much in favour of the latter. Doncaster has seen many course specialists over the years, including Mount Logan, trained by Roger Varian, who was 3-4 on Town Moor, but just 4-20 elsewhere and, more recently, Framley Garth, trained by Lawrence Mullaney, who’s 2-3 at the course, but just 4-40 elsewhere.

So again,  like that online player on https://www.bestusaonlinecasinos.com/ , or someone that needs a different kind of atmosphere, it’s important to factor in how some environments can be better suited to you, and to horses, than others.