Those fast times
We are all well aware of the many ills currently besetting the sport of horse racing. The punitive levy on imported horses, the long wait for the payment of first place purses, the declining dollar, the dwindling horse population, a smouldering backstretch, the woefully low purses and many others which are well known and documented.
Going unnoticed is the plight punters face in determining winners based on official times given for races. Of late, we have been seeing some extraordinary times being recorded especially over the five straight course. Horses in the lower ranks of racing are clocking such fast times it really boggles the mind and places into question the authenticity of these times.
Non-winners of three races lifetime running 56.4 seconds is not exactly a true indication of prowess even over the five straight. We stress that punters must be given every chance to assess races and, times given, form an invaluable tool in whatever formula or system used by bettors in determining winners.
We are extremely happy that the promoting company for racing, Caymanas Track Limited (CTL) took the decision, long ago, to centralise the clocking of exercise gallops in the mornings, but even with this centralisation, times offered on the company’s website are still woefully lacking and inadequate. We agree there has been vast improvements in this area and the usual calls of hiding times have decreased.
What this writer is bringing to attention is the need to have electronic timing both on racedays and for exercise gallops. Any track worth its salt in this era of technology must be equipped with proper electronic timing equipment.
At present, let us take the much vaunted five straight, clockers employed by the promoting company scurrying to the rooftop of the grandstand with stopwatches in tow, they then click when the race is set off and duly record the splits as per accepted norms. These clockers do the best they can with the resources they have. Now, let’s consider the undisputed fact that visibility even from the roof at Caymanas Park, in bright sunlight is limited, there is no way on God’s earth that clockers can accurately record the true starting time of a race and the splits taken at the various sections of the race much less the final time. It is a physical impossibility. It cannot happen. They are going to click those stopwatches either a fraction, sometimes more, too early or too late, thereby leading to improper timing in the end providing only a semblance of the true time recorded.
We fully understand that on the totem pole of ills, the purchase of expensive electronic equipment probably is not even mentioned in board meetings, yet we dare to suggest that the matter should at least be discussed.
The time is coming (pun intended) when the powers that be at the racetrack have to deal with issues especially those involving already beleaguered punters.
And oh, by the way, a track cannot be listed as good, when claiming horses five years and over are running under 58 and mash seconds for five furlongs. Such a track should be listed as fast.
More anon.