Another Galway Festival has passed, and while the going was very much on the Slow side, there was still plenty of entertainment on offer over the seven days. Despite the difficult conditions there were still six winning horses that achieved a speed figure of (110) or better throughout the twenty nine Flat races, (111) being the standard for Listed Class. Before delving into the clock busters some light housekeeping for speed figure compilers to factor into calculations. Irishracing.com and HRI Rás were showing different advertised distances for the first two days. Clerk Of The Course Lorcan Wyer had provided a larger than usual amount of fresh racing ground this year, and probably caught Irishracing.com out with it’s advertised distances. HRI Rás had the 7f distance as 7f 6y for Day 1, and 7f 9y for Day 2 along with other different advertised distances. It has been commented on the Irishracing.com Galway Races Review Youtube video that these extra few yards are of little significance, but I put forward the view that it is all relevant given that 9 yards over 7 furlongs would equate to around (0.50) seconds, or the difference between a (97) speed figure and a (100). There has been a huge problem with accuracy of data in Irish Horseracing for many years which I and others have been calling for since the early 1990’s. These problems are still going on even today, but more on that later.
Column readers will know of my love for Natalia Lupini’s 5-y-o star Dunum, and it was he who recorded the biggest figure (113) of the week when taking the “Ahonoora” 7f Handicap from a handicap mark of (95) on the final day of the meeting. Backers of the runner-up Snapraeterea may feel that they would have gone close to winning but for a tardy start. And there may be another day for him. I take the opposite view though that the race was run to suit the hold-up performers, and most of those that raced close to the pace bar Dunum ended up out the back of the television. It was Dunum’s sixth handicap win of the season, and a career best on the clock, following on from an excellent effort at the track five days previously. On that occasion he managed a third place in the BMW Mile Handicap behind Coeur D’Or. Now raised 9lbs to a new mark of (104) it shouldn’t be long before this extremely likeable son of Ivawood is taking in Listed and Group races.
The Padraig Roche trained Brazil (113) took the e110,000 Guinness Premier Handicap on Friday over 12 furlongs under veteran rider Niall McCullagh by a head from the Emmet Mullins’ trained Teed Up, who was having his second start of the meeting. Brazil had been pulled up the day before in the Grade 3 Guinness Galway Hurdle, and it led to certain questions that needed to be asked by stewards, which unforunately for punters were not asked the previous day. Not a good look for new punters in the game, and the standards of stewarding in the sport need to be raised a few levels if we are to match the gold standards of the likes of Hong Kong. In the race itself things weren’t looking good three furlongs out with the eventual winner being scrubbed along and hitting a Betfair in-play high of 60.0 in-running. It need a strong ride from his pilot to get the son of Galileo up on the line where I noted the Pro Cush had to be used eight times in the straight. Remarkable how the “Perception Of The Sport” appeared not to suffer one jot in a pulsating finish…. It should be noted that Teed Up proceeded to win his second race of the week on Sunday over hurdles bringing back memories of One Cool Poet’s three wins during the 2019 festival. The first four finishers were only separated by 2 3/4 lengths, and they all finished in a time faster than Par, and should be followed closely going forward.
Dermot Weld’s Coeur D’Or (112) reproduced his figure from Leopardstown (where he finished 4 1/4 lengths ahead of Coill Na Sionainne) when taking the e120,000 BMW Mile Handicap on Day 2 by a head from No More Porter. The Chris Hayes ridden 14/1 shot enjoyed a trouble free run down the outside and allayed doubts about showing his best on the prevailing deep surface. While the final time was decent, it was something of a bunched finish up the home straight with Soaring Monarch not getting a clear run, and both Saltonstall and Tosen Wish noted staying on too late.
The Jessie Harrington trained filly Youcrackmeup (112) recorded the biggest performance on the clock on Day 1 when taking the (60-90) Handicap for 3 year olds. The final time was 8 lengths faster than Par, and the first five home should be kept a close eye on. Indeed, the third placed finisher Fratas (106) has already come out and won the Arthur Guinness Handicap on Friday. The first three home were in the front three positions when the pace quickened, and it may pay to give a little more credit to the fourth placed Teorie who came from further back.
Last Ammo (111) caused a 40/1 upset when taking the 16 furlong 110 yards Follow@TheToteCom Today Handicap on Wednesday by 1 3/4 lengths from the smooth travelling Mon Coeur. The race was run in a time that was 6 lengths faster than Par, and it was a long 14 3/4 lengths back to the third. The ex-Charlie Appleby trained winner, now in the care of Richard O’Brien, appreciated the step up in trip, and handled the softer conditions much better than had been expected. The runner up appreciated the drop back in trip to 11f 180y when taking Saturday’s (50-80) McDonagh Capital Investments Handicap.
Laughifuwant (110) showed the benefit of a first run in 72 days when reappearing on Thursday over the extended mile, just two days after a midfield finish behind Bells On Her Toes (109) over 7 furlongs. It was the Gerard Keane trained eight year old’s first win in nearly three years having dropped some 26lbs in the handicap. Spanish Tenor dictated the pace, as is his wont, with the eventual winner tracking him in second. The front two finished first and second, and it remains to be seen if they will enjoy such a smooth trip next time out.
It should be noted that Coursetrack sectional times were published for the meeting on the Racing TV website for the first time for Galway, and were extensively referenced, as usual, during Racing Tv’s “The Verdict” segment hosted by horseracing pundit Angus McNae. Despite Mr McNae’s comments that Coursetrack sectionals are very accurate (see below) he obviously hasn’t been reading my posts, and other industry leading figure’s disparaging comments (such as the excellent Barry O’Neill on TwitterX) regarding their accuracy over the past few years.
I have been highlighting many errors from their published data on the Racing TV website over the years which appears to very rarely be checked against the clock. I have also noted data has been hurriedly changed following my highlighting of errors at Dundalk for example, but alas no credit has been given for such work. Again I will highlight a race that Mr McNae has shown a liking for which was won by the Aidan O’Brien trained 2-y-o Navy Seal on Day 6 of the festival. I have attached the relevant sectional timing manual data, which I have compiled using Kinovea software. It can be clearly seen from the Coursetrack published data that it is way off the mark as usual, and merely highlights what I and others have been saying regarding the use of a GPS Wireless system over a Beam system. The GPS Wireless system is a much lower grade system, and having been installed in many US tracks it has been removed due to accuracy issues and replaced by the Beam system, which it originally replaced. For some reason, however, it has been put in use throughout the UK, and now Ireland, where racecourses are now paying for it. Part of the problem has always been that the system cannot record an accurate first furlong independently due to the stalls interfering with the Wireless system. The timing system therefore must always work backwards from the race winning time and guess the first furlong. The lack of effort in proofreading the sectional times by Coursetrack is also remarkable, and is merely a reflection of the lack of real passion and desire to do what’s best for the sport from those at the top of the governing bodies in the UK and Ireland.
In the following example of the race won by Navy Seal on Saturday the 5th of August the finish is shown first.
Followed by the start of the race where the starter’s yellow flag has been lowered, and the stalls are beginning to open.
The Official time of (1.51.85) is correct. The on-screen timing of (14.25.78) minus (12.33.93) is verified in the Coursetrack data below under the winning time of Navy Seal in the TOTAL column:
The problem’s then start when the system is asked to come up with a first furlong time for the leader Bad Desire. It should be noted that the race distance for this race is 8 furlongs 73 yards which has been professionally measured by surveyors. Therefore the first measurement point will be the 7 furlong marker which will take in the first 1 furlong and 73 yards of the race. My own timing research puts the race distance at about (12.65) seconds per furlong. I also calculated the Going Allowance for this particular race to be around (0.72) seconds per furlong slower than standard (29 lengths per mile). This would put the expected time for the first timing marker (1.332 furlongs in measurement) to be (12.65 x 1.332) (16.85 seconds) plus the added time for the going allowance (0.72 x 1.332) (0.95 seconds) plus the added time for a standing start from stalls which has been estimated to be in the neighbourhood of (2 seconds) throughout the years. This should put the opening furlong in around the (19.80) seconds mark (16.85 + 0.95 + 2.00). The photo below shows the leader Bad Desire approaching the 7 furlong marker in (12.53.64) on our Kinovea timing software.
From our time of (12.53.64) we deduct our starting time of (12.33.93) and we have an opening furlong of (19.71) seconds. Apologies for my calculation of (19.80) seconds. I was (0.09) seconds out. Unfortunately, Coursetrack’s opening furlong for Bad Desire is published at (24.20) seconds. That’s right it is (4.49) seconds wrong, or 26.4 lengths wrong if using a 1 length estimation of (0.17) seconds per length. The rest of the sectional timing data is obviously a mess from Coursetrack, and a screenshot of Bad Desire in the lead at the 2 furlong marker below also highlights this fact.
The 2 furlong point is reached in (13.59.48) minus our starting time of (12.33.93) giving us a time for Bad Desire to the 2 furlong point of (1.25.55). We can see from the Coursetrack data above that the accumulated sectionals for Bad Desire for the first 6 sectionals come to (1.26.66) (24.20 + 13.19 + 13.10 + 11.96 + 12.30 + 11.91). A difference of (1.11) seconds or about 6 1/2 lengths when using a 1 length measurement of (0.17) seconds. So in response to Angus McNae’s post on TwitterX yesterday – No! The Coursetrack sectionals are NOT VERY ACCURATE – THEY ARE VERY INACCURATE as they always have been for many years, which has been highlighted many times, and they will always be inaccurate until a more accurate GPS Beam system is in place like the one used in Hong Kong for example.
It should be noted that I have called out many figures in the Horseracing Industry over the past thirty years to provide punters with more accurate data including those running the sport at the Irish Horseracing Board, who for years have caused punters unnecessary grief with their dreadful stance that race distances of up to two miles could be measured accurately using an antiquated measuring wheel. In 2015 Galway became the first Irish Racecourse to have their race distances professionally surveyed, and it was noted that the advertised 16 furlong distance on the opening day was actually 179 yards longer than advertised. Almost a full furlong wrong. About 64 lengths in layman’s terms. Despite this evidence, it has taken a further 8 years of asking for Irish Racetracks to be properly measured before anything has been done. And even now they have installed a timing system that has been removed from many racetracks in the United States for simply being an inaccurate method of gathering sectional timing data. There are many like myself out there who see the protection of punter’s as not being high enough on the list of the those governing the sport in the UK and Ireland, in stark contrast to a country like Hong Kong who are seen as the world leaders.
In closing I would like to say that I have dedicated a large portion of the past thirty years to perfecting the compilation of speed figures, going allowance calculations and horseracing timing and distance errors in Flat Racing across the following jurisdictions: the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Hong Kong. I can be contacted by e-mail on gharte2016@gmail.com and through Direct Message on TwitterX @gharte72 for the writing of horseracing articles outside this platform, of which I would be grateful of my first assignment.
Till the next instalment,
Stay Lucky,
Graham.