With around £5 million in prize money, this season should be the most competitive ever in the UK

All-weather racing enjoys the same response from horseracing fans as Marmite does from toast lovers. Some love it, others hate it.

Okay, the allure of attending a mid-winter meeting at Wolverhampton to see horses run on an artificial surface won’t be as great as watching the Gold Cup on Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot in high summer. But that doesn’t mean we should become all-weather snobs. In fact, the UK’s all-weather racing scene is going from strength to strength. Good news, hopefully, for punters who try to make money from races run on the sand.

The three courses in the UK that currently stage all-weather flat racing are Lingfield Park, Wolverhampton and Southwell. However, this year that roster will be boosted to five because a new track is being created at the re-developed Kempton Park, plus a brand new course is opening at Great Leighs in Essex.

Forget the forecast

As the traditional flat racing turf season comes to a close in the autumn, so the all-weather championships kicks into gear. The 2005-2006 all-weather season got under way on 7 November last year and will culminate in a grand finale at Lingfield Park on 18 March with the running of the Winter Derby. With around £5 million in prize money, jockeys’ and trainers’ championships to fight for and opportunities for horses of varying levels of ability, this season should be the most competitive ever staged in the UK.

So who are the jockeys, horses and trainers to follow on the all-weather, and how can racing at one track differ compared with that at another? Follow this compact InsideEdge guide and you could soon be on course to make some serious gold from the sand!

It may boast a catch-all monicker, but all-weather racing actually differs slightly at each of the three courses which currently stage the sport in the UK. This is a factor worth being aware of before you decide to have a punt at a particular track. All three courses are left-handed, but racing at Wolverhampton and Southwell takes place around lozenge-shaped tracks, while Lingfield’s configuration is more triangular. More on the significance of that later.

One fundamental point you need to get to grips with early on is how the actual racing surface differs from one course to another. Two types of sand are used. All-weather races held at both Wolverhampton and Lingfield are now run on a substance called Polytrack, which is a kind of rubberised sand minimising the impact of ‘kickback’ – the effect the horses produce as they thunder over a loose-topped sandy surface. Polytrack’s consistent nature means that most races can be run at a good pace, so when having a bet at Lingfield or Wolverhampton it’s worth remembering the importance of backing a horse which will see out the trip.

With that in mind, it would be less of a concern for a horse with good form over 12 furlongs at these two courses to get stepped down to race, say, over oneand- and-a-quarter miles. But it may be more problematic for a horse which has been doing well over, say, six furlongs if its next challenge was to run over a mile or further.

Horses for courses

However, a different racing material known as Fibresand is used at Southwell. Generally speaking, this produces a more demanding surface compared with Polytrack. If all-weather racing at Wolverhampton and Lingfield is similar to running on the equivalent of fast-ish going on turf, then Southwell’s Fibresand is closer to a turf equivalent of racing on soft or even heavy ground.

Take note of this factor when a horse which has performed well at Wolverhampton or Lingfield is then asked to compete in a race at Southwell – even if the distance is the same. Before having a bet in this instance, you should convince yourself the horse will see out the trip on this different surface.

Lingfield’s sharp contours and relatively short run-in mean it tends to favour horses who can race up with the pace (or ‘handily’) rather than long-striding gallopers who can take time to get their run going. The layout of the track means that horses drawn in double figures tend to be at a disadvantage for races run up to a mile. Low-drawn horses who can race handily should enjoy a definite advantage when it comes to sprint races over the minimum trip of five furlongs.

It’s a similar story at Wolverhampton. Once again, low-drawn horses in fiveand six-furlong races usually hold an advantage. It’s hard for horses to swing wide into the straight without compromising their chances. But for race distances over a mile or more the impact of the draw diminishes rapidly.

We’ve already heard that the racing surface at Southwell is different to the other two tracks and this means the kickback is far more pronounced here than elsewhere. The next time you go to the beach, get someone to throw handfuls of sand in your face and see how much you like it! For that reason, Southwell tends to benefit horses who can race ‘prominently’ or who are described as ‘strong travellers’ because they will avoid as much kickback as possible.

You’ll find some specific names to follow in our ‘Trainers, Horses and Jockeys’ box to the right, but sticking to these guidelines for all-weather betting should help you rain on the bookies’ parades whichever track you’re at.