Inside track: Winners tricky to find in big field

May 22 2009 The Journal

EVEN with soft ground as our main going description for today, we have plenty of runners lined up for racing at Newcastle Racecourse – 94 to be precise.

It has been a while since we have had an appreciable wet and warm spell. The recent drop has done the whole area a tremendous amount of good.

The purple rhododendrons that tower along either end of the drives and greet racegoers to Newcastle Racecourse will be in full bloom by the weekend but they always struggle to last until the John Smith’s Northumberland Plate meeting in June.

The course has greened up and perked back into life after last week’s setback due to frosts and the recent spate of racing. The racecourse running rail has been juggled about in the last month to allow certain areas of ground to recover in preparation for the big meeting that is only 36 days away!

Today sees another competitive card and winners will be tricky to find. After last week’s attempt at finding winners and seeing two of them beaten in thrilling finishes, Tres Coronas a nose back in second and Eton Rifles a head and a short head back in third, I will try and find something that actually gets a hair in front!