Forbury Park Raceway Overview

Forbury Park Raceway lures punters across Australasia in quest of exciting harness racing opportunities.

Forbury Park is the southernmost night harness racing track in the Southern Hemisphere. With night racing being held in Dunedin since 1960, punters opt for Forbury Park as a firm favourite because of the rich tradition and ethos the track embodies.

With a long-standing reputation of providing the fastest sand based racing surface in New Zealand, punters can look forward to electrifying harness racing events on a regular basis.

Harness Racing Overview

Harness racing is a unique discipline classified under horse racing. The structure of harness racing devotes its principal foundations to the relationship between driver and standard bred horse.

Each driver is towed behind the horse in a lightweight sulky that is propped up on two wheels and attached to the horse via straps. The driver uses a whip to keep the horse in line and control the momentum of the gait.

There are two separate gaits within harness racing that are categorized as trotting or pacing. Punters seeking a holistic understanding of harness racing at Forbury Park should consider the two disciplines independently.

Trotting is a steady run whereby the horse and jockey need to control the momentum in an effort to outrun the other standard bred horses. Trotting relies on rhythm and smooth running, inside of a regulated speed.

Pacing is a faster gait, almost half a gallop, pacing is easier to control and maintain. The rhythm in pacing is more constant and allows horse and driver to maintain a constant balance. This makes pacing events slightly more predictable over trotting harness racing events.

Racing Starts And Pole Positions

Harness racing at Forbury Park is highly popular amongst punters seeking the best horse betting opportunities the sport has to offer.

Punters seeking optimal betting strategies should consider the kind of Starts used and the horses’ pole draws.

Harness racing makes use of two distinct starting methods, mobile and standing start barriers. A standing start barrier is a fixed barrier from a stagnant position; mobile barriers rely on moving barriers, usually cars to set the horses behind a starting point before releasing the barrier and speeding away.

Pole draws and positions are vitally important to any race at Forbury Park. A horse with a history of weak turning ability may become sloppy out wide at the ninth or tenth barrier. Horses with strong straight abilities and dynamic pace, drawing first, second or third barrier positions at Forbury Park will have better odds as inner barriers encompass narrow turns that lead into the straight stretch a lot sooner.

One Unit

Horses and drivers need to function dynamically as one unit. Punters seeking exciting, more valuable bets need to consider the horse’s consistency and the driver’s ability to keel the horse in check over the race distance.

Australian horse racing betting apps lists all drivers’ stats, a helpful tool to make use of when considering final wagers at Forbury Park.

Betting Strategy

New punters seeking to build a solid harness racing betting strategy for Forbury Park should consider a formula for handicapping horses.

Formula and strategy can be built from a number of influential factors leading up to and during the multitude of harness racing events on the annual calendar.

Factors include but are not limited to the horses total prize winnings, injuries, previous wins, records, race times, seconds gained or lost and much more.