Help needed

[Islanderpei]

Do you know if the grass on the tracks are cut to a specific height, and if so ,how low do they cut it, also is it different to NH tracks.
I ask this, because i was looking at some replays,and the grass over here looks alot shorter than on tracks in the Uk.
On my other thread, there is a bit of a discussion about the going,and i'm under the impression that if the grass is shorter surely the going would be faster.

 

[Tamerlo]

Racecourse grass in UK is normally cut in the range 75-100mm, the higher lever normally for ryegrass.
Gang mowers are normally used- which leave the grass lying at an angle. Galloping "with the nap" can make a horse go 3MPH faster.

 

[Islanderpei]

Cheers tam, thats longer than what i thought.

 

[Cyclonic]

In some parts of Australia, we like to keep the grass to a bare minimum of three feet. The tickling feel on the private parts of the boy horses, makes them feel so good, that they tend to want to run faster, to get more of a "rush." It's a proven fact.

 

[Ron]

Racecourse grass in UK is normally cut in the range 75-100mm, the higher lever normally for ryegrass.
Gang mowers are normally used- which leave the grass lying at an angle. Galloping "with the nap" can make a horse go 3MPH faster.

That's very interesting. That means that in 60secs (Basically a 5f race) a horse will be 88 yards further up the track than it would otherwise be. That's a lot of lengths. Is there any way this can be used in assessing form?

 

[Islanderpei]

So if a horse is on the inside of the track with the nap going against him, he does not stand much of a chance with a horse drawn on the outside with the nap going with him.So would this go under the heading of track bias. HAHA. You learn something every day

 

[Tamerlo]

Islander, the 3 MPH came from an article I read a while back- by some expert on Racecourse management. Personally I find it a bit hard to believe, although it would certainly slow any animal down when you're running against the lie of 3-4 inch long grass.