A popular Midlands track, Nottingham is a Flat-only venue hosting racing from spring to autumn.
The track here is a left-handed affair, the round course being about 1½ miles in length while there is also a straight course hosting races over five and six furlongs.
Tight bends are a particular feature of this course.
Nottingham Course Draw Bias Overview
On a left-handed track with tight enough bends, a low draw is usually considered to be favourable.
At Nottingham the pace isn’t always strong. This may be due to those tight bends and that often leads to those controlling things on the front end taking a big advantage. Always keep pace in mind along with the draw.
Here, the further you go the less the pace angle holds up, so the shorter the distance the more important it is.
Watch out too for how large the field is.
The more runners there are, the more those drawn high are forced wide. Some drawn high decide to sit in order to get a spot near the rail, but that puts them off the pace which is far from ideal here meaning that, generally speaking, a low draw is best on the round track.
5 Furlongs at Nottingham
The straight course at Nottingham is generally fair and even as long as there is pace across the track. Depending on the stalls position however, there is a slight advantage for those drawn high up against the stands side rail.
A horse that can break well and runs up with the pace which is also drawn in the high numbers will be well fancied over the minimum distance at Nottingham.
6 Furlongs at Nottingham
Naturally, the six-furlong draw bias pattern is pretty similar to that over five. Once more, if the stalls are in the centre or the far side of the track and the pace is even then all runners should hold a chance.
Increasingly however, more runners drawn in the high numbers are doing better over six furlongs. The stands side rail is the ideal place to be, with pace of course playing a part too.
1 Mile at Nottingham
One-mile races at Nottingham are on the round course, meaning runners taking that pretty sharp bend into the home straight. There is a definite, albeit not overly stark, advantage to being draw on the inside which is in the low numbers.
Yet again, pace plays a part here as do field numbers. In small fields, the draw wouldn’t bother us much over the mile. In larger fields, those drawn wide really have to get in before the bend which means either using up lots of energy to get to the front, or sitting and suffering off the pace which is not the place to be.
Longer Distances at Nottingham
As we’ve already touched on; the further you go at Nottingham, the less any biases take effect. Those able to dictate from the front can still be better place, while those drawn on the rail are favoured slightly.
But, both ‘advantages’ wane over 1m 2f and especially over 1m 6f and 2m, event at those trips beginning in front of the stands on the home straight.