AW racing - what to look for?

[RussP]

The end of the flat season is drawing ever nearer and, for me, the jumps is something I stay away from. So, it's the sand for me & a winter of Lingfield, Southwell, Wolverhampton & Kempton:ok I'm interested in your views as to how you think it differs from turf flat racing (other than the obvious;)). I mean things such as:

1. Do you think more favs win?
2. Are there more shocks?
3. What racing styles are suited best? And on which track?
4. Effect of the draw?
5. Jockey / trainer?
6. How important is race grade?
7. Is handicap mark as important on AW?

etc, etc, etc. I could go on for ages. Just interested in your views really:ok I'll be studying this in detail soon so will post my thoughts later.

[Trotter]

Re: AW racing - what to look for? Fin wrote a good post about AW racing last year.......... Perhaps he might re-post it here to get a debate going ? My thoughts are turning to the AW now as well...........and I did follow it last winter for the first time. I think I might concentrate on the better races this year, the class 5 and class 6 races tend to be double figure fields of poor horses and there's a lot of 'buggins turn' to win and hard luck stories as they lack the speed to take gaps or get out of trouble. Alternatively I might concentrate on sprint races as I'm compiling speed figures and think they might be more relevant over sprint trips. Apart from the 5F at Southwell all the sprint trips are round a bend so draw can be more important than on straight tracks on turf. Front runners have a good advantage if they get an uncontested lead and can slow the race down and sprint off the bend........ I have no stats to back this up - just a general impression.