Musselburgh course guide: ground, draw and tactics plus Paul Mulrennan's view

You learn a lot more about tracks from satellite images and watching replays than aimlessly kicking a football around the middle of the track, which is why Musselburgh being my local course when I was growing up is of only minor help to the writing of this piece.

Where local knowledge can assist is in terms of a course's setting and that is majorly important to Musselburgh, which is defined by its seaside location above anything else. Here are the factors which often hold sway in races at Musselburgh...

The ground

Musselburgh racecourse is built on the town's links land. If you watched the Open Championship golf at St Andrews over the weekend you will have a sense of how links land can be different.