Key Characteristics
Haydock Park racecourse is set in the North West. It hosts both Flat and Jumps racing throughout the year.
Haydock Park racecourse is an oval course of just over a mile and a half, with a straight six furlong course. The six furlong course is slightly uphill all the way. The course could be described as galloping in nature.
Draw Bias & Pace Analysis
There is a perception that horses drawn high have an advantage over 5 & 6 furlongs as they have the stands side rails to run up but in reality most races are run up the centre of the track. There may be a slight advantage but it is more down to running style than draw. It is pretty difficult to front run at Haydock particularly in softer ground (29/31 over 5f and 27/29 over 6f). This is because of the uphill nature of the track which makes the full use of the stamina a horse has.
Often the best position at Haydock over the sprint distances is covered up but prominent. Real hold up horses often find it difficult to make up the ground particular on going described as Good or better.
Over 7 furlongs the draw can favour lower drawn horses particularly in larger field because the bend comes up quickly and horses can be forced wide and have to cover a lot more ground. Having said that the long 4.5f slightly undulating uphill finish leaves plenty of time for hold up horses to get into contention if they are good enough.
Over a mile the same is true as over 7 furlongs. Over these longer trips you do get the occasional horse that just gallops the rest into the ground that’s why Mark Johnston does pretty well here with a 20% S/R.
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