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Doncaster is one of the fairest tracks in Britain - but here's what that really means for punters

Betting editor Keith Melrose examines the straight course on Town Moor

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Betting editor

It's a favourite dad joke of mine that one day I'd like to start a travelogue, or probably a podcast these days, called 'If it was up north you'd never have heard of it', where I visit all the parts of southern England that are nice but ultimately overrated by dint of their proximity to London.

Or maybe I should just quote former Doncaster clerk of the course Roderick Duncan. On a January Friday a few years back, the day before Great Yorkshire Chase day at his track and Trials day at Cheltenham, Duncan pronounced with equal parts pride and frustration: "If you're going past here to get to Cheltenham tomorrow, you must be off your head."

Doncaster may be the least loved of all Britain's heritage tracks. It hosts a Classic, bookends the Flat season and has the second-best two-year-old race in the country. If it were situated further south, chances are it would be celebrated much more.

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Published on inKeith Melrose

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