Wolverhampton Course Guide

The all-weather course forms a flat, left-handed oval circuit of just under a mile in length. The bends are fairly sharp and with a narrow straight of under two furlongs it favours horses with the ability to hold a good position as opposed to those who need time to find full stride. The track's surface was changed in 2004 from fibresand to polytrack, which in turn was replaced by tapeta during the summer of 2014.

Wolverhampton’s 5f, 7f and extended 1m starts can be tricky from a jockey’s point of view, because they’re very much draw-dependent. It’s a big advantage being among the low, left-hand numbers. The 1m 4f start can also be a slight problem, but at least from there you’ve got a longer trip to get sorted out. Nobody went round the inside in the early days and, while I’m not sure it’s a disadvantage to be there now, most jocks still shy away from that rail. It’s a tight course, but well laid-out and very fair.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver