Re: Mark Hopkins interview (465 Views)
Date: August 23, 2004 08:42PM
I think part of why the TG numbers are steadier and more readable than Beyer figures is that they build some other aspects of trip "BESIDES ground loss" right into the number.
For ex. if there is a small impact on the final time related to the pace or competitive nature of the race, it often winds up getting baked right into the TG figure via the track variant assigned. TG often breaks races out from the day in order to assign figures according to what the horses "should" have run.
I think perhaps JB would disagree with some of what I am saying above because I am sure he is very careful about doing that. But I do think it happens sometimes.
Beyer and Rags on the other hand are less apt to give figures that represent the ability of the horses in those minor pace instances. They would give you a rawer speed figure that does not include the impact of pace. Apparently they are also not as careful as JB is about when to break a race out for reasons like wind, moisture etc... and instead present a faulty figure.
I would prefer it if ground loss was not included in the figure. I want it to be part of a seperate trip line. That way I could make a subjective judgement about how the track was playing and whether or not being outside losing ground was a positive or negative on that specific day.
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