Jockeys green light new Caulfield Heath track

Racing beginning on the new inner circuit at Caulfield, named Caulfield Heath, has been given the go ahead by senior jockeys.

Six official trials and three jump outs were held on Tuesday and despite continued controversy around the tightness of the turn out of the home straight and the obvious dip in elevation through it, riders including Damian Lane and Luke Currie were comfortable to give the Melbourne Racing Club (MRC) and Racing Victoria their approval for racing to kick off there.

The midweek card slated for Sandown on March 13 is likely to be the first meeting switched to Caulfield Heath.

MRC track staff attempted to soften the bend in question by lengthening the arc of the turn but that was met with some disapproval across the trainers and jockeys present.

“All the jockeys were happy with it,” Victorian Jockeys Association CEO Matt Hyland said of the surface.

“There are a couple of minor tweaks here and there but all in all it has the tick of approval.

“Field sizes are likely to be limited to 10 for the longer races (1500m and beyond) and 12 for the shorter races.

“The surface is 100% perfect.”

That turn was the main point of contention for the jockeys after the initial set of trials were held in late January however in-form hoop Harry Coffey is open minded the course’s characteristic given the compact nature of other tracks around Australia.

“It is tight, and they do whip out a little bit at it around the bend,” Coffey said.

“It will be a bit of an adjustment, but I’ve ridden a lot on the Morphettville Parks track and it is similar to that.

“I’ve ridden on some pretty rough tracks and I think the difference is that this is a city place and the expectation is that tracks are grouse.

“It will be an adjustment for everyone.”