Times in racing can be misleading but it usually pays to check the times in races run over the same distance on any given day.
Here are some examples where this has been fruitful lately.
Vanderbilt recorded a winning time of 84,40 second over 1400m on July 14.
The winning time of a maiden won by the promising Eyjafjallajokul earlier in the day was more than three seconds slower at 87.64 seconds and the maiden won just after that by Bird In Space was won in 87.20 seconds.
Vanderbilt’s run was in a MR 78 Handicap, whilst the other two races were maidens, but a second in racing generally represents six lengths, which gives an idea of how good a time it was that Vanderbilt recorded on the day.
This made Castle Corner an interesting runner next time out over 1450m as he had finished 4,75 lengths behind Vanderbilt in a time of 85.19 seconds.
He was duly backed in from 8/1 to 33/10 in the aforementioned 1450m event and won the race.
Time comparisons on a given day can also be used to eliminate a horse from selections.
An example was a horse on Sunday running in a 1400m event, who had run a seemingly improved race in his previous start to finish third over that same Hollywoodbets Greyville 1400m course and distance.
He duly found some support to start at 6/1 odds on Sunday, way shorter than the 50/1 of his previous start.
However, his time in that previous race had been 88.86 seconds, which would have had him finishing second last in the only other race over 1400m that day and that was in a typically weak qualified maiden contest.
The horse duly finished second last in Sunday’s Maiden Plate.
However, this method can never be relied on just on paper because there is no information on how the race was run.
Sectional timing gurus state that the times received from the sections can give an inkling into how efficiently the race was run.
The time total of a horse who ran an efficient race i.e. did not go too fast and maintained a good finish to the line, could be an accurate depiction of a horse’s ability.
However, another horse on the same day might have run in an inefficiently run race i.e. a canter and sprint for home, so the actual time recorded might in that case be an unfair reflection.
Sectional timing is close to being implemented in Johannesburg.
The data will be made available to the public and to pundits.
There are sure to be some members of the public, and the odd pundit, who will embrace the mathematical challenge of deciphering the data and getting useful information out of it.
The data, if there is enough of it, should be able to help ascertain a horse’s true ability over a certain distance.
That horse could then be followed, although it should be borne in mind that he or she will not necessarily run as expected next time out because the race might not pan out well for him or her.
However, accurate data assessment could produce a team of horses for an assessor to follow and increase the chances of success, or in other words, put the odds in his or her favour.
Perhaps a sectional timing expert will be employed to decipher the data on behalf of the public too?