Timeform’s in-depth guide to Pontefract, featuring all the key facts and figures for the latest Sky Bet Sunday Series fixture of 2022.
Timeform’s Pontefract course guide
Left-handed, in excess of two miles long, with considerable gradients and a stiff uphill finish.
Despite the gradients, the run-in is only two furlongs long and prominent racers can prove difficult to peg back, certainly in races up to a mile and a quarter.
On very testing going, the jockeys occasionally race wide in search of better ground, swinging across to the stand side in the straight.
Leading active jockeys at Pontefract
Sorted by strike rate in the last five years (minimum 20 rides)
- Ryan Moore 31.25% (10-32)
- Silvestre de Sousa 27.52% (30-109)
- Hollie Doyle 24.24% (8-33)
- Ben Curtis 22.50% (36-160)
- Danny Tudhope 19.34% (41-212)
Other points to consider
- Danny Tudhope is the most prolific jockey at Pontefract in the last five years with 41 winners – Ben Curtis (36) and Silvestre de Sousa (30) head the opposition. Tudhope has enjoyed three winners from 12 rides (25.00% strike rate) when teaming up with William Haggas, so look out for Bartzella (16:45) as she tries to add to her Listed success at Goodwood last time.
- Ryan Moore doesn’t have any rides on Sunday’s card at Pontefract, but Silvestre de Sousa, who has an impressive 27.52% strike rate at the course in the last five years, will be in action in four of the seven races. Perhaps his best chance of a winner is Twilight Prince (17:15), who can race from the same mark as when beaten just a neck at Bath last time.
Leading active trainers at Pontefract
Sorted by strike rate in the last five years (minimum 20 runners)
- Ralph Beckett 35.14% (13-37)
- Sir Michael Stoute 32.61% (15-46)
- Archie Watson 30.43% (7-23)
- Andrew Balding 26.09% (6-23)
- Hughie Morrison 26.09% (6-23)
Other points to consider
- Yorkshire trainer Richard Fahey is the most prolific trainer at Pontefract in the last five years with 42 winners – Tim Easterby and Charlie & Mark Johnston head the opposition (both 35). Surprisingly, Fahey doesn't have any runners on Sunday's card, but both Easterby (nine runners) and the Johnstons (seven) will be well represented.
- Ralph Beckett and Sir Michael Stoute don’t have any runners on Sunday’s card at Pontefract either, but Archie Watson, who has an excellent 30.43% strike rate at the track in the last five years, saddles the course-specialist Corinthia Knight (18:45). Corinthia Knight is only 2 lb higher in the weights than when winning at Pontefract two weeks ago – his fourth career success at the track – and Harry Davies, who is good value for his 5-lb claim, takes over in the saddle on Sunday.
Running style
The tactical advantage front-runners have in any given race, both on the Flat and over jumps, should never be underestimated. For example, if you had backed every horse who recorded a Timeform EPF (Early Position Figure) of 1 in British Flat races since the start of the 2017 season, you would be operating at a strike rate of 17.98% and celebrating a profit of over 21,000 points at Betfair SP.
By contrast, the statistics tell us that backing hold-up horses simply doesn’t pay in the long run. Horses who recorded an EPF of 4 (towards rear) in British Flat races during the same period have a strike rate of 7.55%, while horses who recorded an EPF of 5 (in rear) have performed worse still with a strike rate of just 5.51%.
- Timeform EPFs range from 1 to 5 and help to explain where a horse was positioned during a race. An EPF of 1 is recorded by a horse who led and an EPF of 5 is recorded by a horse who was held up.
It’s worth pointing out that these figures can vary drastically from one course to the next. At one end of the spectrum there is Epsom, where front-runners have a strike rate of 27.38% since the start of the 2017 season, and at the other end there is Ascot, where front-runners have a strike rate of just 10.50% for the same period.
Like Epsom, Pontefract is a track where front-runners seem to be particularly effective. For context, horses who recorded an EPF of 1 have a strike rate of 26.09% in all Flat races run at Pontefract since the start of the 2017 season, leaving it behind Epsom and ahead of Ripon (23.84%), Chester (23.36%) and Beverley (23.20%) among the top five tracks for front-runners in Britain.
Meanwhile, horses who recorded an EPF of 2 have a strike rate of 13.35% in all Flat races run at Pontefract since the start of the 2017 season, once again faring better than horses who recorded an EPF of 3 (9.35%), 4 (7.57%) or 5 (5.20%).
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