This Listed Open Handicap over 2200m saw the odds on clear topweight Beauden win comfortably and justify his short price. The winners and where they turned for home in race order were fifth (five-off the inside and three lengths from the leader), second (four-off the inside and two lengths from the leader), second (seven-off the inside and two lengths from the leader), fourth (eight-off the inside and three lengths from the leader), led (twelve-off the inside and a neck in front), led (ten-off the inside and two lengths in front), fourth (fourteen-wide and a length from the leader) and led (fourteen-wide and a length in front). The track raced biased and on paced all day with the rail out 6m across the top on what is already a tightish bend, so it made things worse and therefore has to be recorded as manmade bias. The runners were being steered wider from the opening race and they got wider and wider as the day progressed, which for a track officially rated a Dead4 seemed visually inexplicable and it was a bad look indeed. Beauden came into this in sparkling form and in his last six runs had won three times and placed three times. His run before today saw a strong closing third at G1 over 2000m at WFA carrying 59kg beaten half a length and today he had topweight of 59kg and had 4kg more than the next weighted runners. He was ridden arrogantly by sitting sixth and wide from the 1000m then was moved up deeper near the home turn and actually was fourth and the widest runner turning in on the better footing. It showed how iffy the track was racing as sitting deep was in fact a plus, which almost never happens on Dead ground and when times are still decent. The 5yo gelding moved up before the home turn and then took over at the 250m and went on to score by a length and three-quarters in 2:15.85, which is a fast time for this track. The times here have been very untrustable for a while and concern over incorrect starting points seems founded as the difference in clocking on the rare occasions the rail is true all the way around to the many times the rail is out are quite glaring. There is a problem one way or another and when runners are steered so wide and the times are as quick as ever then you can see an issue. Your eyes do not deceive you, as covering more ground and still running comparable or faster times makes for mathematical nonsense. Today was the eighth win in twenty-five starts for Beauden and his first Blacktype win surprisingly. Sampson the 10yo trailed handy the inner and actually took a narrow lead turning for home before being headed at the 250m but he held second well enough. Soleseifei the 7yo mare raced third or fourth and was sent wide across the top and then when likely to finish fourth did dig deep and grabbed third on the line. Toms the 6yo gelding raced midfield mostly but was eighth across the top then unleashed to be sixth at the 200m and third at the 100m before losing that spot on the line. Cead Mile Failte settled back and wide but ran home stoutly for fifth beaten just over two and a half lengths. Darscape Princess led clearly and was headed turning for home then stopped to be beaten almost four and a half lengths. The rest got beaten over seven lengths and as far as almost eighteen lengths so they came over the line in dribs and drabs. This was not a very strong field at all and had a lot of old runners way past their best and many out of form runners plus a few out of their grade too. Beauden had to be odds on in this line up of mostly non-winners in quite a while even if he had 4kg more than the equal second highest weighted runners.