Newbury Course Guide

Left handed, galloping. The straight mile course is undulating throughout. One of the fairest courses in the country, though its galloping nature makes it ideal for the big, long-striding type, and the track becomes testing in inclement weather. Whilst the majority of the action on the straight course usually takes place on the stand rail, those who choose to come down the centre of the track instead can find themselves at an advantage.

There aren’t many fairer courses than Newbury, which is big and galloping, but, probably due to the woodland on the far side, it can sometimes ride a good bit softer down the back straight than it does in the home straight. There’s very little draw bias on the straight track and there’s no wonder so many trainers want to send their classy horses there. The one tricky start is the one up in the spur (the round 1m) and that can prove draw-dependent. Otherwise, you get very few hard-luck stories at Newbury.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

Left handed, galloping with few undulations. One of the fairest courses in the country, though its galloping nature does suit the big, long-striding type. The chase course is regarded as being fairly stiff, though the low casualty rate over recent seasons contradicts such a view; the fact that many races are run at a steady pace possibly contributes to such a low figure, as does the generally better standard of horse on show. Leaders are rarely overhauled on the chase run-in for all it often looks as though they might be, especially from the elbow.

It’s among the fairest courses in the country and you get few hard-luck stories. There’s plenty of time during a race, with two very long straights and two sweeping bends, and you don’t often get too much shimmying or jockeying for position. If you’ve got the right horse, everything seems to happen nice and smoothly. The fences are very fair and, although the cross-fence used to claim a lot of victims, it’s nowhere near as bad now. Newbury is a great place for a novice and, unlike Cheltenham say, where the fences can be tricky for inexperienced horses, it’s really straightforward.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald