Hamilton Park, near Glasgow, is one of five Scottish racecourses and the country’s only Flat-only venue.
The turf track here, home of the Lanark Bell and the Glasgow Stakes, is right-handed and undulating with sharp bends.
The loop joins the straight around 5½ furlongs from home and the finish is a stiff, uphill one.
Hamilton Course Draw Bias Overview
There is a very key thing for punters to remember; pace is key at Hamilton Park. That is the number one thing to remember when making selections at this track.
Front-runners and those who enjoy being up in the vanguard, statistically, do way better than hold-up horses around here.
That doesn’t mean that the draw means nothing however, as the two factors are inextricably linked.
For example; if your horse is needed the right type for Hamilton, i.e., one that likes to go forward, then it needs a decent draw to get into a good early position or else it risks burning energy early and having nothing left for the stiff finish up the straight.
5 Furlongs at Hamilton
As well as the pace angle, punters have to be on weather watch at Hamilton. Over five furlongs, the draw is very fair and even on the straight course on good or fast ground.
Low numbers are better when the ground gets soft. This is a strange one too, the hill down towards the motorway goes towards the far rail (low numbers) so you would think that area would be the last to drain.
The stats however tell us that low numbers do better on softer ground on the sprint course, but the bias isn’t huge and it may depend on the field size and the stalls position.
6 Furlongs at Hamilton
With a furlong further to travel, results over six furlongs are just a little different to the five-furlong stats but the main points remain prevalent. Low numbers do a little better, though soft ground will help, but in general the split is pretty fair meaning pace and stalls position are the main factors.
When the draw is important is more to do with the fact that, should a potential front-runner be draw low and able to get to the fair rail easily, this will present a big advantage.
1 Mile at Hamilton
Unsurprisingly races over a mile and 1m1f, which start at the beginning of the loop, show a bias towards those drawn low nearer the inner rail. The right-handed turn is pretty tight meaning the race can be won and lost there, as when the runners straighten up, they have fully five and a half furlongs to sort themselves out.
Once again; a low draw and a horse capable of doing things from near the pace are what to look out for.
Longer Distances at Hamilton
Race are also run at Hamilton over 1m 3f, 1m 4f and 1m 5f. All of these races see the horses start in front of the stands before backtracking along the straight, turning left and then taking in the right-handed loop before going back along the home straight.
Given the distances involved as well as the left and right turns, there is no significant draw advantage over these trips at all.