LEADING form analyst Ralph Horowitz has labelled the racing surface at Dowling Forest the most unfair he’s seen in recent memory.
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Horowitz blasted the Ballarat Turf Club for its handling of the track on Radio Sport National yesterday, saying it had seriously favoured horses hard up against the rail throughout Sunday’s 10-race card.
“It was the most biased track I’ve seen,” he told The Courier.
“The core business is the racing and on this occasion everything was good except for the surface.
“If Ballarat want to have a stand-alone Saturday meeting they have got to make sure, like Bendigo, that the surface is spot on and punters are happy to bet there.”
Horowitz, who this year launched the popular Racetrack Ralphy app, said it was impossible for horses to make ground away from the rails, evidenced by leaders hugging the fence and winning throughout the meeting.
He said it was a shame that the surface was presented in such a manner, given that the club had worked hard to produce a top-class day of racing, including the innovative Magic Millions Clockwise Classic.
Horowitz used social media on Sunday to vent his frustration at the state of the track.
He was joined by a host of other racing identities, including former Ballarat jockey Michelle Payne, who agreed with the notion of a track bias.
“The true at Ballarat may need to come out a couple of meters #badbias,” she tweeted.
Former hoop and Sky Racing commentator Ron Dufficy also vented his frustration on Twitter. “That’s hardly the way you would want your track playing on cup day,” he wrote.
Dufficy’s comments were re-tweeted by trainer Danny O’Brien who had three runners engaged at Ballarat on Sunday.
tim.oconnor@thecourier.com.au