Straight or Bends

[leepeach]

Hi

Is it safe to say that some horses prefer running a straight distance and some prefer running the same distance with a bend/bends?

Do trainers train horses to do both?

Lee

[Trotter]

Defintely I think some horses are better on straight tracks and some are better going round left hand bends than right hand bends and vice-versa

As I mainly look at all weather racing the introduction of Newcastle threw a bit of a spanner in the works with all races up to a mile run on  a straight track ......... previously there'd only been the 5 furlongs at Southwell that was straight

Logically a straight track should put more emphasis on stamina as the horses are likely to be able to run faster than running round a bend. It should also suit horses that are held up as the front runners are more likely to be running faster and run out of steam

On the other hand, as Isaac Newton explained very well, you have to accelerate to change direction so running round a bend should need more effort than running in a straight line. 

To complicate matters the pace of the race is probably as important in determining the outcome and which horses are best suited ....... obviously on a straight or turning track a slowly run race will suit horses with a capacity to quicken up in the finish and the front runners might not fade if they've been able to run slowly for most of the race and stay ahead

So thinking about this in terms of trying to find a winner of a particular race is not straightforward

I think the best thing to do is to really learn the tracks so you can just look at a horse's form and see instantly which type of track it does best on and which tracks are similar to each other .......