As far as I can rember from the few articles I read, Beyer times were designed for the US dirt tracks and US style racing where the horses sprint early and gradually slow down, the exact opposite to the way our horses run here. The system was a bit of a dead loss in Oz. apparently, but very widely used [still] in the US, to the point the figures are reflected in the prices and no longer have an edge. Typically the Beyer ratings are often on US form guides.

Time, especially beyond 1100m [including sectionals] raise big questions about their usefulness [including averaging out] due to varying race pace, track layout, condt, barrier draw, luck or lack of it in the running etc. etc.

Time becomes meaningful when used with the study of race replays I reckon. As an example a horse that got caught wide during a race and came a close 4th might have run the best time over the distance, due to it covering a lot more ground than the winner who might have been glued to the fence for the entire distance. Unless your studying the video's, you haven't got a clue as to which horses are really running good time.