Race type - Flat
Nottingham
Course details
Once a dual purpose track, Nottingham now solely stages flat racing and has been the starting point for many a good horse down the years. A visit to the nearby greyhound track after racing is highly recommended - providing you have any money left that is:)
GUIDE - For Racecourse
Left-handed, oval circuit of 1m4f, chute for 5f and 6f races.
Once a dual purpose track, Nottingham now solely stages flat racing and has been the starting point for many a good horse down the years. The first meeting on the current site in Colwick Park took place in 1892 and the meetings today remain as popular as ever, with a visit to the nearby greyhound track after racing highly recommended - providing you have any money left that is! The maiden races that are run here later in the season attract big fields and you can often spot a potential Group horse amongst the runners from the comfort of the Centenary Stand, which offers excellent viewing and well-stocked bars!
Track / Draw Bias:
Biases are now harder to predict on both the inner (spring/autumn) and outer (summer) courses and they can change from meeting to meeting due to watering, depending on where the stalls are positioned. However, this is not a track to get too hung up on over the draw.
Principal Races:
The track stages a couple of Listed races early in the season: the Kilvington Fillies' Stakes, which is over 6f and is for three-year-olds and upwards, and the Further Flight Stakes over 2m, which is named after the popular stayer who won 24 of his 70 races including his last one here.
Course Characteristics:
There are actually two courses used depending on the time of year and both are very flat which, combined with the easy sweeping turns, makes Nottingham a very fair test for all horses. This is the reason why many of the bigger stables are happy to run their best juveniles here in the autumn in order to give them a good grounding. Unlike some of the sharper tracks, they don't become unbalanced and can really stride out, with the bigger galloping types in their element. A chute of just over 2f at the end of the home straight allows for races of up to 6f to take place on a straight course.
Top Trainers:
Godolphin have been making hay with their runners here in the last five seasons, having sent out 18 winners at an incredible strike rate of 38%. Their two employed trainers, Saeed Bin Suroor and Mahmood Al Zarooni, have huge teams to go to war with in 2012, so we can expect more of the same. Champion trainer Richard has winners wherever he goes and he does well here, as does David Evans with the pair having sent out 14 winners apiece. This has been a happy hunting ground for Newmarket trainer Michael Bell and that can increasingly be said too for Roy Bowring, with all his runners here yielding a very handsome level stakes profit of over £60.
Top Jockeys:
The Godolphin success story is mirrored by their No.1 jockey Frankie Dettori and there's no reason to expect him to let up, although he will now face competition for rides from Mikael Barzelona and Silvestre De Sousa with those riders being given lucrative retainers for 2012. Other class acts who ride plenty of winners here are Ted Durcan, Paul Hanagan and Jamie Spencer, who frequently rides for Michael Bell.