Saturday’s Hollywoodbets Durban July produced another fascinating spectacle for racing fans. Run on good to soft ground, the race produced some standout performances.
Hidden in the numbers is a remarkable performance by supplementary entry Trip Of Fortune, who, after galloping 1200m put in a 60 second flat 1000m. Who knows what might have happened if he had sat a few lengths closer early on?
The Hollywoodbets Durban July stampede (Pic-Chase Liebenberg)
Sectional timing data, which has been produced by the internationally acclaimed French company McLloyd, who also provide the service to French and Hong Kong horseracing, is currently available on the Winning Form website (www.winningform.co.za) for Hollywoodbets Greyville, Hollywoodbets Scottsville and Hollywoodbets Kenilworth.
The schedule shows a variety of splits and the finishing position and time achieved by your fancy.
Let’s look at a few standouts.
Runner-up See It Again blistered the fastest 800m, 600m and 400m, which explains why after12.60, 11.60 and 11.24 he could only manage a third fastest 12.11 to the line.
Evergreen 8yo Do It Again did it again with the fastest dash home in a sizzling 12.02, putting all his younger rivals to the sword. How is it that he has never tried further when the numbers show he is only starting when others are finishing? Maybe a Gold Cup swansong could be the tonic for this hero?
After a hard 12 sec/furlong for the initial 1200m, Dave The King slowed down below average for a 600m breather only to run the last 400m in the top half.
To get a podium finish in this Hollywoodbets Durban July, one had to run the entire race above average (or in the top half of the field).
In hindsight, runners probably too far back were Do It Again, Second Base, Trip Of Fortune, Puerto Manzano, Safe Passage and Rascallion. They were all too far out for their sustained above average last 1000m finishes to get them there – or it was even just too far?
Read how Kabelo beat Striker – a fascinating story.
In a game that is subject to multi-faceted variables from weather to human judgement, sectional timing information is a scientific beacon of light that will not only enhance the Gallop TV race-viewing experience, but easy-to-interpret data can also highlight exceptions, like an individual standout performance that suggests the horse may be one to follow.
Each race is after all, an individual event, with sectional timing data allowing the form student to ascertain how efficiently the particular heat was run – something that is often subject to perception and is not always evident to the naked eye.
Easy-to-read data also provides one with the opportunity to highlight the pace of the race, when a horse is going faster or slower than the rest of the field, and when some riders may have made race-winning or losing moves, by possibly going too fast, or being forced to give ground away.
Face value form assessment can be misleading in instances, and this is another area where sectional timing can be a valuable filter.
The sectional timing project is intended as a customer friendly value-add to boost the enjoyment, understanding and ultimately the rewards that punters and fans gain from watching the world’s most exciting ‘brain game’.
Please click here using your Hollywoodbets account number and login password.
