You're half right, half wrong.

For 1000-1500m races -overall time matters most.

For 1600m and beyond - final section matters most.

I have looked into this quite a bit. A fast final section means nothing in a sprint if they jog the first part, as most sprinters can run time in the final section. The best sprinters have also been able to run fast times - Hareeba, Schlachi (can't spell it), Our Maizcay etcc.... It doesn't matter what a horse runs in the final 400m if its 10 lengths behind at that mark!!

However in staying races - not many horses are able to sprint at the end regardless of early pace -therefore horses like Carnegie Express (who can sprint) can be very hard to beat in such races.

Sunline doesn't run fast overall times, but runs good sectionals in the middle of the race which gets other horses off the bit.

Have a look at the racingandsports website - they have compared M&P's Cox plate win with Sunline - M&P's performance was the most awesome performance I have ever seen - the sectionals thru the entire race were unbelievable.

You cannot compare rare times - adjustments have to be made for different tracks, track conditions, weight etcc.