Track: The Going

The going describes the condition of the course - the state of the ground.

All horses are built differently and have varying styles of running.

Horses that gallop with a high, rounded action often prefer running on softer ground as their legs are hitting the ground from a greater height that horses that have a flatter action.

There are five official going descriptions in Singapore: Firm, Good, Yielding, Soft, and Heavy. The order is from hard and dry to the softest and most moist on the track. The most common going is good which is the most ideal going of horse racing. A rainfall is likely to change the going from good to yielding.

Although softer ground is more tiring which means horses are more likely to fall, injuries tend to be less serious because the ground provides a cushioning effect for those fallers.

The track going may affect the performance of most horses. For example,a horse has 1-2-5-1-3-2-7-1 form all at the same distances. Check the going for each race, maybe all the good results come on a dryer and firmer track whereas the bad run maybe on soft or wet track.