turf to all weather

[sammy36]

I like betting on the all weather (not with muuch success mind) and i know there is no definite answer to this as all horses vary but in general how much is a horses ability affected coming from the turf to the all weather? I was wondering how much of a disadvantage they have with the track (sharp bends) the surface (kickback etc) to competing with horse who run on the all weather all of the time. By the way I am amazed at the knowledge some of the guys on here have about horse racing. I have a lot of catching to do:(.

[fintron]

Re: turf to all weather

I like betting on the all weather (not with muuch success mind) and i know there is no definite answer to this as all horses vary but in general how much is a horses ability affected coming from the turf to the all weather? I was wondering how much of a disadvantage they have with the track (sharp bends) the surface (kickback etc) to competing with horse who run on the all weather all of the time. By the way I am amazed at the knowledge some of the guys on here have about horse racing. I have a lot of catching to do:(.

welcome to ATR Sammy :ok I think you have to treat a horses all-weather form and turf form very differently, as there are many horses that dont take to the AW but run well on turf. Ceremonial Jade is a good example, last season on turf at Newcastle he ran off a mark of just 92, but on his next outing he was back on the AW and running off 105 - which shows he is nearly a stone better on artificial surfaces - quite a difference really. I think the point about bends you make is a good one. Some horses like Vitznau today like racing around a bend, others, Kaolak, are big striding types, that prefer a straight track such as Newmarket or Goodwood and would not like a turning track like Chester, or Wolves or Kempton if they were to race on the AW. RE the going, I like to think that the fibresand at Southwell is similar to soft ground on turf, quite slow. I dont really draw any comparisions with polytrack and fast turf, I think polytrack is quite unique, and horses either seem to handle it or they dont. If a horse has no polytrack form I treat it with caution, and often look at the sire's progeny to see if they act on the surface (the RP site is good for this). But I would rather chance a horse that hasn't run on AW than one that has run on it and performed badly for no apparent reason.