There’s a stack of different tools at the disposal of horse racing punters, with each playing its part in trying to crack the code of predicting how a race will play out.
It’s amazing how the opinions of punters differ in terms of the relevance of each of these tools, but one that is almost universally popular is that of sectional times.
They’re by no means the secret sauce that will turn you into a winning punter overnight, but sectional times do offer up some fascinating insight that might just help you to predict the outcome of a race more successfully.
What are Sectional Times in Horse Racing?
Sectional times, quite simply, detail how fast each of the horses in a race has travelled over a specific distance.
It doesn’t mean that they’ll run that fast (or slow) again next time out or at any point in the future, but this sectional data does offer an insight into how fast a horse can travel on specific going.
This information can also be used to analyse whether a race has been run to a ‘true’ standard or whether it has been ‘falsely’ run. There are factors that can impact upon a horse’s performance, maybe the pace was too frenetic for them or too slow, and this insight can be used as a guide when predicting their true level next time out – in different company, they might just be able to maximise their potential.
We can also put generalised labels on a horse race. They might be frenetic early pace with a slow finish, a sluggish start and a strong finish, maybe fair-to-middling throughout… we can categorise horses in this way, and predict which type of race may favour them best in the future.
Generally speaking, sectional times are recorded over each furlong, so if the race is six furlongs long then you’ll have six pieces of data to analyse.
This information is often used in post-race analysis by jockeys and trainers. They’ll look at how the horse ran at different points in the race, indicating whether the individual is a fast/slow starter or whether they stay on well. The times will also be used to inform race day strategy; perhaps a horse is a natural frontrunner, or maybe they’ll be held back in the pack and then run their race at the business end?
How are Sectional Times Calculated?
Don’t worry, you won’t need a stopwatch and a pen and paper to record sectional time data.
There are many services out there that provide sectional times, and while some of these are paid-for services, the data and insight they provide can be invaluable.
Many trainers will now attach some kind of GPS tracking device to their horse’s saddle, which will offer up a calculation that you may just remember from your physics classes at school: speed = distance/time.
Just by watching a horse race on TV or a bookmaker’s stream, you’ll also get a flavour of the sectional times – some broadcasters have a clock running on-screen, which momentarily freezes at the end of each furlong.
Whichever avenue you pursue in getting your hands on sectional time data, make sure your provider has a reputation for being accurate in their work – if they aren’t, the stats they are providing are effectively useless.
How to Use Sectional Times In Your Betting
One of the attributes that punters love about a racehorse is its ability to run a smooth race – that is, to pace itself and run sectional times that are pretty consistent across the board.
Of course, many horses run a fast first furlong – it’s the herd nature of the animal to want to stick close to its equine brethren, before the jockey will assert control over their pacing thereafter. The pre-race strategy will also try to ensure the horse is hitting their top speed in the final furlong or so, so in that sense some leeway must be given when studying sectional times.
But the main takeaway from sectional time data is to determine a horse’s top speed – that gives you a flavour of their performance ceiling. Then you want to be able to track how many furlongs they are able to operate at roughly that level for. Speed and stamina tends to win the day in any horse race of one mile or more.
Sectional data can also be used to try and plot how a race will be run. Is the field packed with strong, front-running types? That could potentially pose problems for ‘hold up’ horses that prefer a steadier pace in the early going.
When betting on longer distance races, you can use sectional times to try and predict if a race will be run in a way that suits your pick or not.
Plenty of punters enjoy creating their own ratings system, which identifies horses with potential for future improvement – or those that have perhaps been overrated by the handicapper.
Sectional data can be used to study a horse’s running over a few races, identifying improvers or those that are perhaps regressing. Often in horse racing, the result of a race doesn’t always tell the whole story – recognising horses with a high performance ceiling, and haven’t had a chance to run to their true level yet, can be very useful indeed.
And we can try to match sectional times to individual racecourses, too. Those with consistent strong finishing times may be well adjusted to tracks like Cheltenham and Chepstow, where those famed for strong starts may just have the edge at sharper courses such as Chester or Epsom, where reeling in a leader can prove tricky.