FURIOUS punters hit out at Pontefract races and branded the contests a ‘total farce’ because of the massive track bias.
Normally, high draws spell disaster at the West Yorkshire course with those breaking from the inside at a huge advantage.
Arc-winning jockey Luke Morris can only watch on as the draw bias has a ‘frightening’ impact on races at Pontefract
Groundhog Day
@MickEasterby won the opener on this @ponteraces card 12 months ago with a horse that came home all alone up the stands' rail and the same team have repeated the trick with Unplugged!
Top marks Serena Brotherton
pic.twitter.com/qcf3bbbXFX
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 3, 2023
But either due to selective watering or freak underfoot conditions, the norm was totally reversed on Monday’s Flat card.
It meant the outside stands rail benefitted from the firmer faster ground – labelled a ‘golden highway’ on the day – and the inner was much slower.
The difference was visible on TV as punters could actually see the different colours of the grass.
Incredibly, Serena Brotherton was the only jockey to pick this up in the first race as she cut a solo run right down the outside on 13-8 fav Unplugged.
It looked like she had a big mistake until the Michael and David Easterby-trained runner cruised home smoothly.
Unplugged went so far wide at one point that the seven-year-old gelding was completely out of shot, appearing again only late on to win snugly.
After that there was nothing short of chaos as some riders stuck to the inside, others went down the middle and a few fanned right out wide.
Those who raced wide fared by far the best, though – flying in the face of what normally happens at the track.
Punters who had placed their bets before the action got underway were left fuming after finding out the enormous bias all too late.
And even Racing TV pundits Josephine Gordon and Niall Hannity called the whole thing ‘disappointing’.
The day was summed up in the last when 13-2 Gannon Glory won from stall 14, a gate from which they normally would have absolutely no chance.
One punter wrote: “That really is farcical stuff at Pontefract. A track I really like but f*** me what’s the point? Not good enough.”
Another comment read: “Can see the grass is different, one side been watered other side not. Never again betting there.”
One said: “Something dodgy going on there. The bias is frightening.”
And another punter wrote: “Total farce and feel for connections.”
