sentences:  The half-mile straight is mainly downhill, with a final sharp ascent in the last hundred yards.The predominantly downhill nature of the straight means that times for the sprint races tend to be much faster than those on flatter tracks.Clockings for the five furlong course have included 53.6 s (hand-timed) by Indigenous in 1960 and 53.70 s (electrically-timed) by Spark Chief in 1983.