Race type - Flat
Hamilton
Course details
Hamilton is the playground of Glaswegians, who flock here for the summer evening meetings in particular and as a result there is a real buzz about the place. Racing in the area can be traced back to 1782 but the modern day site only came into use quite recently in comparison with the first meeting taking place in 1926.
GUIDE - For Racecourse
Right-handed, almost straight 6f track with adjoining pear-shaped loop.
Hamilton is the playground of Glaswegians, who flock here for the summer evening meetings in particular and as a result there is a real buzz about the place. Racing in the area can be traced back to 1782 but the modern day site only came into use quite recently in comparison with the first meeting taking place in 1926. History was made here in 1947 when the first recoded evening meeting took place and even today the course management is forward-thinking and live bands after the racing is the norm, which only goes to swell the crowd further. They can often get a decent bet on too as, in common with the other Scottish courses, there is a strong betting ring.
Track / Draw Bias
There is a natural bias in favour of the far side of the track (low numbers), although this can be altered by watering on faster ground and is completely negated when the jockeys head for the centre of the track, which has been the pattern in recent seasons. Low numbers tend to do best in soft/heavy-ground sprints but the bias swings towards those drawn high on watered fast ground. In races over 1m65yds, low numbers do best on account of the runners encountering a tight right-handed loop soon after the start.
Principal Races
Prize money is good here and this often attracts runners from the south. Indeed it was the Godolphin-trained Hunter's Light that captured the most valuable prize here in 2011, the Listed Glasgow Stakes over 1m3f. There are a couple of valuable handicaps too with the running of the Braveheart Handicap, which also fell to a southern-trained runner in 2011 in the shape of Red Cadeaux, who famously went on to finish second in the Melbourne Cup, and the Scottish Stewards' Cup over 6f. For sheer entertainment you can't beat the popular 'Saints and Sinners' night, which is set to return to the track in June 2012 after an absence of four years.
Course Characteristics
The course has been likened to Goodwood in that it consists of a right-handed loop, which is connected to a 51/2f straight course. There is a small spur at the end of the home straight which provides the start for 6f races, with anything over that distance taking place on the round course. The longest race run here is over 1m5 with the runners having to pass the winning post going in the wrong direction before embarking out on the loop of around 31/2f in length. The course is distinctly undulating with runners on the straight course having to travel downhill for the first 3f, followed by an uphill section of about 2f before they level off just before the winning post. This doesn't suit every type of horse and course specialists are common. One other feature here is the ground which is often on the soft side of good, so any horses with form on that surface need to be given close attention. Front runners also have a decent record here.
Top Trainers
While the big southern yards make successful raids on the big prizes, it's the northern-based trainers than mop up the bread-and-butter racing here and of those Richard Fahey leads the way with an incredible 45 winners in the past five seasons. Given his high number of runners, you'd be excused for thinking he had a low strike rate but far from it - it currently stands at 23% and you would have made a small level stakes profit by backing all his runners. Mark Johnston rarely leaves a meeting without a winner or two and his strike rate is only marginally less at 22%. Kevin Ryan and Bryan Smart are also worth following.
Top Jockeys
The success of Fahey is mirrored by his ex-stable jockey Paul Hanagan and it was places like Hamilton, where he's ridden 40 winners in the past five seasons, that helped him win his two jockey titles. With the likelihood of him riding more in the south in 2012 due to his retainer with Sheikh Hamdan, there will be more opportunities for the likes of Joe Fanning and Tom Eaves to increase their already impressive tallies of 29 and 26 winners respectively. The name of Silvestre De Sousa on the race card should also alert punters as the Brazilian is proving to be a real winning machine.