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Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Sunland Oaks Fractions Corrected

- Equibase has corrected the fractional times (pdf) for the Winstar Oaks; the stewards at Sunland retimed the race. The difference may not be as drastic as some people had thought.

Wrong fractions:
23.33
47.46
1:14.27
1:39.47
1:45.18

Corrected:

23.33
47.46
1:13.59
1:39.38
1:45.18
In an email, it was explained that due to a malfunction, the race had been hand timed, and "not too well." But the corrected clockings still show a race that slowed up considerably after the first half; after going 47.46, the third quarter was run in 26.13 seconds, as opposed to the 26.81 indicated by the faulty timing. (Note that Tough Tiz's Sis was a length and a half behind at the half, so she ran a bit quicker than that.) That still means that Tough Tiz's Sis then quickened the pace, now adjusted to 25.79, to the mile, and came home the last sixteenth in 5.80 seconds. The email informed me: Although the last portion of the race is still fast, it is acceptable. So, even with the corrected fractions, it was an oddly run affair, contested more like a harness race than what we normally see in the flats.

The Winstar Derby's time was confirmed by the Sunland Park stewards. Thanks much to Mr. Chuck Scaravilli at Equibase for keeping us posted.

- Hollywood Derby winner Showing Up is starting to crank up for his 2007 debut, a belated one scheduled for the Manhattan Handicap on Belmont Stakes day. He worked a half in 48 2/5 at Gulfstream on Monday.

- Magna has installed an additional 705 slot machines at Gulfstream, bringing the total to 1,221. And changes continue at the track, though they're all directed towards slots and cards players.
A second-floor room that housed a nightclub is being converted to a permanent poker and simulcast room. The poker room has been temporarily located in tent that serves as an outdoor wagering area fronted by bleacher seating that overlooks the racetrack. [Bloodhorse]
- Hard Spun is set for the Lane's End after his workout in 1:00 3/5 seconds over the Turfway Polytrack the other day; that was three seconds faster than the next fastest at the distance. Jockey Mario Pino said: "It was a nice time, without much effort. He felt great, really."
"He just didn't grab the track (Oaklawn) like the other tracks I've ridden him on," the Maryland-based Pino said by phone. "… He put in a nice run to get up to second at the top of the lane. But spinning out makes you tired. … He only got beat three lengths. It's not like a terrible race. But … he's a better horse than that." [Louisville Courier-Journal]

3 Comments:

Anonymous said...

"Acceptable" in the terms that they don't have to correct the final time or the Beyer, which have already been reported by news outlets. Because then they'd have to admit they made a mistake. Good grief. If you guys wanna believe those new numbers, that's your business. I stil say they're not even close. For the record, i'm surprised they were adjusted at all.

Anonymous said...

Hard Spun doesn't want to run a mile and an eighth any more than I do.

Anonymous said...

The Beyer Boys have raised Tough Tiz's Sis from 79 to 88, although Equibase never adjusted the final time of the race (and just barely adjusted the fractions). It's nice that DRF/Beyer is giving this fine Baffert filly some credit. I must say however, i find it unsettling that Equibase (which is where we get the bulk of our information) seems to care less about accuracy than DRF does. I'd prefer it were the other way around.