Tracks are great, but bias rears its head

Full, and long overdue, credit to the Jockey Club staff in charge of the tracks - punters here rarely have to deal with that scourge of racetracks in many parts of the world, track bias.

Apart from the obvious idiosyncrasies fundamental to Happy Valley - and even some sort of miracle has been wrought on the dreaded C+3 course to take the venom out of its hot rail bias - this regular annoyance in other jurisdictions is an infrequent influence in Hong Kong's turf racing.

A slippery customer, track bias, as it mixes easily with the pace of races and one is often camouflaged by the other and the whole issue can be tied up in matters of opinion. And it's a bit like the universe - difficult to explain, it's just there.

But if one course is looking to have a look of regular and predictable bias about it at Sha Tin, it is the A+3 used on Monday, which is now starting to build a clear record of on-speed advantage to rival the B+2 a few years ago.

Monday's track was especially biased with virtually every winner in the first two around the home turn, only Tan Tat Baby getting home to score from midfield on straightening and even Bullish Cash had already joined the leaders at the 400-metre mark.

The bias appeared virtually invulnerable to tempo as well - the power of early work done by Opera Magic and Unique Jewellery battling for the front in the sixth race should have left them open to attack and it did.