When studying a horse race, there are many factors to take into account to ensure you have the best chance of winning. Following the weather and getting the best understanding of the going is one of the key factors involved.
What is the ‘going' in horse racing?
Whenever someone refers to ‘going' in horse racing, it basically means the level of softness/firmness of the ground on the race track.
Across the United Kingdom, we have six key terms to describe the ground, which are: Firm, Good To Firm, Good, Good To Soft, Soft and Heavy.
What decides what description is used?
The clerk of each course will walk the track in the morning of race day and declaration day, and use an instrument called a ‘GoingStick'.
This stick is a wooden which is put into the ground, and it measures ‘penetration' and ‘shear'.
Penetration – How easily the stick enters the ground
Shear – The energy required to put the stick back to a 45-degree angle.
After getting the two readings, they are combined to create a ‘going index'.
What is Yielding?
In Ireland, they have an extra piece of terminology for the going descriptions. This is yielding, which is between the UK's good and soft, making it their version of Good to Soft.
What's the difference between heavy and Firm ground?
It's best to compare the two at the complete opposites of the spectrum to get the clearest image.
Heavy ground is ground we don't get too often in the UK. The majority of the time, you will see Heavy going in the description of a racetrack in the winter months. Heavy ground means a lot of rain has fallen on the racetrack, and it's the worst possible standard of ground without it being called off.
Like humans, not every horse likes rain. A lot of the time, the horses who appreciate the poor quality ground are ones who have a high knee action, allowing them to get into the turf, and get a better grip of the soft/sludgy surface. A couple of horses to name in recent years who relish ground like this would be Nassalam, a previous Welsh National winner. He is 3/4 when running on heavy ground.
Compare this to ground that is Firm is like night and day.
I'd be confident in saying that you'll see Heavy ground more than Firm ground, as clerks in this country like to water the track to ensure the ground doesn't get too quick/firm. When the turf becomes Firm, it does increase the risk of injury to the horse, as it's much harder ground, affecting the joints of the horse.
There are not many tracks which get Firm ground, with Bath and Yarmouth being the only two that come to mind that will get ground this dry over the summer period.
An example of a horse that loved fast ground would be Pyledriver. He won on Firm ground on his debut, but was equally good on Good To Firm (proved by winning a Group 1 at Royal Ascot).
Why is there a combination of two descriptions?
More often than not, a racetrack will give two descriptions, e.g. Good To Firm, good in places. This means that the majority of the track is riding as Good To Firm, but there are sections of the track that are slightly worse, so they have to declare this by putting ‘good' in the description.
If they didn't do this, then the punters would be at a disadvantage, and it's something which the BHA requires to make it as accurate as possible.
What can I do to get an advantage?
The best piece of advice I can give for the going is to monitor the weather forecast at least 24 hours in advance of the race meeting.
Search in Google, ‘weather forecast at … racecourse'. Click on a couple of the main websites, and see what the temperature is at the track, and see if there is any rain. From that point, you give yourself the best chance of knowing whether the ground is going to change before or during the meeting.
Also, if you know what the ground is and are confident it won't change, try to find the horse that will handle the ground, and you can find some insane value if done early.
GambleAware