| The draw for stall positions only takes place for | | | | lot easier for a jockey to overcome the draw |
| flat and all-weather races. The significance of the | | | | and get his horse placed where he or she wants |
| draw is less in longer races but can be very | | | | it in the field. |
| important in sprint races. | | | | The draw can be even more significant on some |
| As a general rule you can normally disregard any | | | | of the All Weather courses which have particularly |
| effect of the draw in races of a mile or longer. | | | | sharp bends. For instance at Kempton the horses |
| The exceptions to this are if a race has a larger | | | | drawn high seem to have a significant advantage |
| than normal number of runners. There are also | | | | in 5 and 6 furlong sprints. At Southwell and |
| some courses such as Chester which because of | | | | Lingfield it can be a disadvantage to be drawn |
| their sharp bends favour those horses drawn | | | | wide in one of the high number stalls. |
| near the inner rails in any race. | | | | It is quite easy to get the draw statistics for the |
| Starting stalls can be placed on either side of the | | | | various courses from the Racing Post either the |
| course although they are normally situated next | | | | printed or online version. One note of caution is |
| to the inner rail. However, it is always worth | | | | that the draw effect can change from season to |
| checking to make such that the stalls are in their | | | | season. This can be due to a number of reasons, |
| normal position. On occasions to avoid bad ground | | | | moving the stall, watering the course or improving |
| or to protect the going for future meetings the | | | | the course drainage. |
| stalls may be moved further across the course. | | | | Even if your horse has a favourable draw you |
| At some courses the effect of the draw can be | | | | have to consider if it is going to be capable of |
| dependent upon the going. Many experts believe | | | | taking advantage of it. For instance a horse may |
| that for instance in sprints at Windsor racecourse | | | | have the favourable inside draw but if it tends to |
| high numbers are favoured but if the going is soft | | | | be a slow starter it may find other horses have |
| or heavy it can be the lower numbers that have | | | | got off quicker and grabbed the favoured inside |
| the advantage. | | | | position and so blocked that horse progress. |
| Obviously another factor that will affect the | | | | When it comes to finding winners the draw is just |
| influence of the draw on the result is the number | | | | one of the pieces of the jigsaw that you have to |
| of runners in the race. With a few runners it is a | | | | put together to find the winner. |