Is it G’day or “Good 4” today?

We had been planning a blog on Australian v UK Going descriptions and having recently received the following question from Matt Norton and the Melbourne Cup Carnival starting this weekend, now is a good time.

Here is Matt’s question, submitted to us via email:

“Thank you for the great product and services you have developed. It has improved the game immensely.

I have a quick question, what is the complete number range from the most firm to the most soft in Europe? Is there a comparison chart from Europe to Australia? For example, does Heavy 8 in Australia equal 8 Soft in Places in Europe? 

Any information would be greatly appreciated.”

Racing Down-Under

The turf Flat season has all but ended in Europe, but in the Southern Hemisphere things are very much in full swing with fantastic racing events across Australia during a period the locals refer to as ‘Spring Carnival’.

For any racing fans who have not experienced Spring Carnival or indeed any major race event in Australia, one word of advice - go! The way in which the media and public get behind the sport is an absolute joy to witness and racing regularly makes the front pages.

In mid-October 46,000 spectators packed into Royal Randwick to see The Everest a race worth AU$15m (£8.3million).  Moonee Valley was sold out last week for the centenary of The Cox Plate and in a typical year 90,000 plus can be expected to be on course at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup ‘the race that stops the nation - on the first Tuesday in November and Victoria Derby Day the Saturday prior.

Flemington Racecourse Track Manager Liam O’Keeffe in action with the GoingStick

Official Going v Track ratings 

A reminder that in the UK there is typically a primary worded official description often accompanied by a secondary description (‘in places’) to indicate either variability e.g. as displayed on TurfTrax Going Maps or a borderline description when a course is on the cusp of two descriptions.

In Australia the terminology used to describe the surface is the ‘Track Rating’. and just four words are used; Heavy, Soft, Good and Firm, but accompanying these descriptions is a number scale from 1-10, with 1 being the firmest and 10 being the softest – although these numbers are not scientifically generated, they act as a guide to the degree of ‘give’ in the surface.

Measurement methods

The Penetrometer has long been the tool of choice in Australia but over the last 10 years the GoingStick has been adopted in addition to or in favour of ‘the Pen-o’ as the Aussies like to call it. Some tracks in New South Wales use another impact resistance device called the Clegg Hammer.

With the wide use and acceptance of surface measurement devices, race meetings in Australia take place without the need for anyone to walk the course with a wooden stick these days.

The table below shows Australian Track Ratings, with the nearest UK equivalent and an indication of the GoingStick reading we can expect to see from Flemington over the next week or so.

The Differences

A basic knowledge of GoingStick readings clearly highlights that the range of average readings in the table when compared to traditional descriptions are all higher than we experience in Europe.

Some tracks in Australia will regularly race with a GoingStick reading above 11.0 whereas in the UK readings over 10.0 are extremely rare. 

At the other end of the scale the UK can experience race day averages as low as 5.0 on the Flat but this is very rare or unheard of on most Australian tracks. 

There are a number of factors contributing to this, but the biggest influencers are the climate and soil type. 

To give an example, GoingStick readings are taken at 6am on a race day a Flemington - the first race on Melbourne Cup day is at 10.45am and there are 10, yes TEN races on the card. So, on a drying day readings can increase by between 0.5 and 1.0 by mid to late afternoon, the Cup itself is run at 3pm.

In Australia many tracks are fully reconstructed including Flemington which was re-laid in 2007 and this means they have a high sand content and are very free draining.  The most similar surface we have to this in the UK is the straight course at Ascot. Some tracks in Australia also contain fibres that act to strengthen the root structure and in turn increase the shear values recorded by the GoingStick.

GoingStick Adoption and Use

GoingStick readings and maps were first published for the 150th running of the Melbourne Cup in 2010 and there now over 40 thoroughbred tracks in Australia and New Zealand using TurfTrax technology. The electronically collected data is absolutely invaluable in helping us understand how the surface is prepared in the Southern Hemisphere as we work towards a global standard.

European trained horses have won the race 4 times in the last 10 years and at the time of writing the UK trained Deauville Legend (James Ferguson) and Without A Fight (Simon & Ed Crisford) head the market so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see it return here again.

The time difference is +11 hours in Melbourne from Sunday onwards, so who else will be setting their alarm for about 3.45am on November the 1st to watch the 162nd running of The Lexus Melbourne Cup or will some of us just stay up all night?! 

The weather in Melbourne can be very unpredictable and they say you can experience ‘four seasons in a day’ so keep up to date with live weather track conditions at Flemington by clicking here. 

If you'd be interested in learning more about that or any other TurfTrax products, please get in touch with us today:

W: www.turftrax.com

T. +44(0)1480 408970

E. turftrax@turftrax.co.uk

At the end of September we explained the difference between French and UK official going descriptions. Link here to read.