I have to say, after I let Andy browbeat (and guilt) me into doing that bit at Saratoga, I found it to be painless. Some time after I shake my winter cold, you don't want an hour of me coughing.

That was an excellent, high level figure making conversation you had with Matties, Steve. He got a couple of things slightly wrong. We don't use a different variant for each race, we just don't assume it stays the same-- it does (or very close) on many days. And he's wrong (as I used to be) in thinking that approach is new-- there's a quote in History Lesson II (Archives this site) from Al (The Brain) Windeman, where he describes using the same approach more than half a century ago, and talks about the many things that can affect track speed throughout the day-- either because they happen or DON'T happen (like watering the track).