Here's a number worth knowing if you're studying tonight's Central Park card: trap 5 has won 34.6% of recent races at this track, landing 9 victories from 26 starts. The average win rate per trap here is just 16.6%. That means dogs drawn in five are winning at more than double the expected rate.
Why the bias? Central Park's circuit tends to favour dogs with a wider initial position who can sweep into the first bend with room to manoeuvre. Trap 5 gives a runner enough width to avoid the early congestion on the inside without being so far out that they lose ground through the turns. At 491m, the standard trip here, there's enough racing to recover from a slightly wider run, and the geometry of the bends plays into the hands of dogs who can hold their line without being squeezed.
The flip side is equally telling. Trap 1 has won just 6.9% of races here, roughly a third of what you'd expect from random chance. If you're backing a rails runner at Central Park, the numbers are firmly against you.
For tonight's card, check which runners are drawn in five. The bias is built on 26 races, a decent enough sample, and the gap from the average is wide enough that this looks like genuine track geometry rather than statistical noise. Factor it in.