Despite the presence of Chester and one or two others on the circuit, Beverley’s five-furlong track has long been regarded as having the most pronounced draw bias in the country.
Beverley is a right-handed turf course with a five-furlong sprint track and a one-mile, three-furlong round course.
The back straight first rises then falls, while from the final bend to the line runners are always going uphill which makes finishes pretty testing.
Beverley Course Draw Bias Overview
Beverley has always been famous for its draw bias. The key thing that people had to look out for in the past was the change from high numbers being on the inner, to low numbers being standard on the inner and that’s where the general bias lies here.
As always, remember to check the stalls position and where the likely pace is. If absolutely all of the ability and pace were to be on the near side (high numbers), then having a low draw would matter little. In competitive handicaps however, the sprint bias here tends to hold sway over time with low draws doing best.
5 Furlongs at Beverley
Both the Beverley Bullet and the Hilary Needler Trophy are run over the minimum distance at Beverley. Many look to see what the Beverley Bullet draw bias is, and basically you need to be on the inner (low numbers).
A low draw here in handicaps or other competitive events is crucial. Between the lowest third of stalls and the middle third of stalls, runners take around 85% of all such races. The lower third of the draw in races of ten runners or more win out more than half the time.
7 Furlongs at Beverley
Despite the five-furlong and seven-furlong race layouts at Beverley differing, the draw bias remains similar. Races at this distance begin on the far side of the course opposite the stands, runners going downhill into the first bend then uphill around the second.
Over the 7-furlong, 100-yard trip the handicaps have tended to go to those drawn very low, usually 5-7 and under depending on the number of runners.
The similarity in draw bias to the five-furlong course is mostly coincidental. In this case, runners take two tight bends meaning those drawn high have to go wide, making things harder. There may also be a faster strip of ground near the far rail in the straight, benefitting runners there over both distances.
1 Mile, 2 Furlongs at Beverley
The 1-mile, 1-furlong, 207-yard start at Beverley is in a chute at the end of the back straight. This is the last distance at which runners may have a slight draw advantage, once again towards the low numbers.
The bias is much less pronounced here. Runners have the length of the back straight to sort themselves out and get across, though get across from high draws they will want to do before the field takes the two tight right-hand bends.
There is essentially no draw bias over any of the longer distances, with starts coming over 1m 4f, 2m and 2m 3f.