In an athletics sprint race, such as the 200 metres, the curvature of each lane increases as the lane number decreases. But, in distance terms at least, a runner drawn in lane two still has to run just as far as rivals in the outside lanes if they're to land the spoils. Switch your attention to the world of horseracing and, despite its best attempts, it's far more difficult for a racetrack to guarantee similar levels of fairness for all runners.

Despite this, seasoned punters often manage to overlook the fact that, for many races run up to a distance of a mile (and, as we shall see, even further on some occasions), the effect of the draw at particular racecourses can often have an important bearing on the outcome of a race.