Sedgefield Course Guide

Left handed, undulating. Easy fences and one of the lowest casualty rates, fallers/unseats at the two fences in the home straight being especially rare. In theory, uphill finish should dictate that plenty of races change complexion late in the day but, in practice, that isn't the case, the run-in on the hurdles course being short and plenty having a tendency to pick up again when challenged on the chase track.

A fast, accurate jumper is ideally what you want to be on at Sedgefield. The fences aren’t difficult there, though, in fact they’re relatively easy, and, especially for summer racing, you can often get away with it on a horse that’s not the greatest of jumpers. It’s different in the middle of winter, when the ground can get testing, and, on days it’s like that, you see a lot of the jocks coming up the stands’ rail, particularly in hurdle races. That can prove a bit of a golden highway when underfoot conditions are soft.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald