Monday's NAP, Im The One, ran at Southwell in the evening, which makes it a good time to look at what's distinctive about the track. A caution first: we couldn't verify the course's layout (its direction, shape and run-in) from a reliable source this time, so this guide sticks to what we could confirm.
What the track is. Southwell Racecourse is about two miles east of Southwell in Nottinghamshire. It hosts all-weather flat racing and National Hunt racing, and the National Hunt racing takes place on turf as well. It's one of six UK racecourses with an all-weather track.
The surface. Southwell is one of three UK courses with a Tapeta surface, a mix of sand, wax and fibre. Until 2021 it used Fibresand, a mix of sand and fibres, and it switched to Tapeta that year. That matters because older form on Southwell's Fibresand was run on a different surface from the one used today, so it's worth checking which surface a horse's course form was achieved on, rather than assuming it carries over.
What "standard" going means. All-weather surfaces use their own going descriptions rather than the turf scale from heavy to firm, and "standard" is the usual one. Im The One's race was run on standard going, and the card gave us nothing to separate the runners on that front.
What to weigh when reading an all-weather card. Because the surface is far more consistent than turf, the usual factors carry more weight: a horse's own form, any evidence it has run well on the all-weather, trainer and jockey form, and the price. We flagged on Im The One's card that we couldn't tell whether she had raced on the all-weather before, and that's a sensible question to ask of any runner here, especially a young one with few runs.
What we can't tell you. We haven't been able to confirm which way the track runs, how tight its bends are or whether the draw or running style has any reliable effect, and we'd rather say so than guess. Look at how the day's earlier races have been run before assuming any bias.
Southwell's switch from Fibresand to Tapeta is the key fact to carry with you: it's a reminder that a track name on a form line doesn't always mean the same surface.
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