What the pattern suggests
The sample does not support the idea of a permanent, overwhelming low-draw advantage. Results vary from meeting to meeting, but lower-numbered stalls appear to become more useful when the ground is soft.
How to read the chart
Each mark represents a winning stall number plotted against the total number of runners. This reveals whether winners repeatedly cluster towards the low, middle or high side.
The source chart covers horses aged three and older in handicaps from 2015–2025.
Stall-numbering note: From 30 March 2011, stall numbering on right-handed courses changed so that stall 1 is always on the inside. Earlier Sandown results in the chart have been converted to the modern numbering convention.
Historical winning-stall chart
|
WINNING STALL NUMBER |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | ||
| No
of R U N N E R S |
8 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 9 | 11111 |
1 | 1111 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
H'caps Only 2015 - 2025 |
||||||||||||||
| 10 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 111 | 111 | 111 | ||||||||||||
| 11 | 1111 | 111 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 12 | 111 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||
| 13 | 11 |
11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| 14 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |||||||||||||||||
| 16 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 17 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 19 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| 20 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 15 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
|
4 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 9 | |||||||||
|
34 |
|
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How to use the bias
- Pace: identify where the likely early leaders are drawn and which runners can secure a good position.
- Going: consider whether the inside or outside is riding faster on the day.
- Field size: draw effects are often more meaningful when runners are crowded into larger fields.
- Recent evidence: rail movements, watering and weather can alter the effective bias.
Conclusion
Sandown’s five furlongs are run on a separate uphill track through the centre of the course. Although the course has long had a reputation for favouring low numbers, the historical chart suggests the effect is not consistent at every meeting. The clearest practical angle is to give extra consideration to lower stalls when conditions are soft, while still checking pace and the way the track is riding on the day.