I don't play many turf races, but I think most people agree that:

1. It's tougher to get an accurate track variant on days when there are few turf races or they are run at very different distances. Plus the rails are moved in and out which further complicates time/distance relationships.

2. The pace is frequently very slow. That complicates getting an accurate variant, and worse, interpreting the results. A very slow pace could have impacted different horses differently depending on their early position. A very slow pace can also limit how fast dominant horses can run because they can only come home "so fast".

3. Ground loss is a huge factor because when they are very wide on the turn in a turf race, almost all the horses are really "motoring" at that point. The pace is often picking up on the turn after the slower beginning. Thus it's harder for a horse to improve its positon and put itself in a positon to win. That's different than in dirt races where horses are often tiring at that point and the pace is slowing down giving a horse a chance to get into position - sometimes without even going all out.

Personally, I put less weight on the final time figures and more on who beats who, how consistently, and by how much (class), ground loss, and late speed times.







Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 07/17/2005 04:36PM by classhandicapper.