Bath Course Guide

Left handed, galloping. The round course is an elongated oval track, just over twelve furlongs in extent, with a run-in of nearly half a mile, those that commit for home early in the straight often proving vulnerable in the closing stages, this due to the steady climb to the finish. The camera angle in the straight makes it one of the trickiest course in the country for in-running bettors as it's head-on from two furlongs out to inside the last. The highest course in the country, with no watering, so the ground can get very firm during a dry spell.

Bath races are usually run at a true gallop and, sometimes, horses start getting a bit too competitive a long way out. The sharp home turn makes it almost a specialist’s track and you see plenty of runners struggling around it. But, if you’re on one that rails and is fleet of foot, that bend can be a good point to grab an advantage, by turning the taps on while others are having trouble. The finish is quite stiff, so you need to get home, but you would love to be on a front-runner that handles the ups and downs.

View from the saddle: Jason Weaver