Southwell Course Guide

The all-weather track at Southwell goes left-handed in a flat mile-and-a-quarter oval which has a run from the home turn of three furlongs and a spur to provide a straight five furlongs. The fibresand surface, which produces a lot more kickback than the polytrack/tapeta ones used at the other all-weather courses, lends itself far more to the course specialist.

You don’t get many hard-luck stories at Southwell, which is the perfect equivalent of a left-hand American track. Races are invariably run at a good gallop, so stamina is vital, and the kick-back is severe. Probably only about one horse in 30 will really face the kick-back but, because the runners usually space themselves out, with some going wide, you can get away with it. Nobody wants to be right down the inside turning into the straight - and the surface can ride very different on different days.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver

Left handed, tight. A course whose character changes dramatically depending on underfoot conditions, the emphasis being very much on speed on firmish ground yet completely the opposite on heavy ground, long-distance races under such conditions often resulting in very few finishers. The fences are of the portable variety and stiff for a minor track, a high number of casualties placing it in the upper end for fallers/unseats. The brush-type hurdles penalise less-fluent jumping more than the traditional variety.

Southwell is a superb jumping track, one of the best-maintained turf courses in Britain, and, as a general rule, it provides very decent ground for summer racing. The fences take a bit of negotiating, though, and there’s no point thinking you can pitch up there and find an easy opening, as there aren’t any. It’s not somewhere you can afford to drop off the pace, either, as, once others get away from you, you can’t get back to them. You need to be tactically astute there and it frequently pays to be handy.

View from the saddle: Mick Fitzgerald