Hi All,

I have been studying Sectional Times recently and although I understand that the horse that runs the lowest total time wins the race, my investigation shows that it is NOT true to say that the horse that ran the fastest last 400m will a race soon...

There are "Front Runners" who only win because they lead and "Back Runners" who charge home to win and cover the same ground in less time.

You cannot compare the two...

Is there anyone who can shed some light on the sectional times provided free at sportscolour.com.au and how these times can benefit punters?

If you're not familiar with the site please take a look and ponder it a while before offering an answer.. There is a lot of misguided information relating to how to best use sectional times.

Regards

OzPunter

Hey Ozpunter,

Not entirely sure what you're looking for however if you google "justracing" you will find some information as to how to use sectionals in relation to determining performance.
Hope this helps

Thanks IAmCool,

But I've already studied the Just Racing site... Good as it is, it leaves me with so many more questions..

The sportscolour.com.au site shows sectional times for every 200m, not just the last 600m...

I'm trying to figure out how to compare runners "a la handicapping" style...

If I have two front runners in a race and I have sectional times of their last three runs each how do I compare them?

How do you compare the back runners or the On Pace runners?

I have lots of questions but if I keep digging I should turn up something logical, sensible and mathematically sound.

All we have to do now is teach the horses how to run to plan.

Kind Regards

OzPunter

OzPunter you've opened up a huge can of worms with how to use secs. The best thing is not to want secs too much, and not to rely on secs, because you never know when you're going to go for a period without secs. Oh yeah, and whatever you do, don't pay for secs.

Dear Duritz,

Let me say, firstly perhaps it's a sign of my maturity in Punting not to take displayed information literally without firstly checking out all the angles, asking questions and making my own mind up about whether I use it or not....

What I'm seeking is advice from thinking readers, like yourself, who display a reluctance to rush in and make some unsupportable statement.

I don't actually use sectionals at this point but when I've sat down and spent some time studying them I've come up with some doozey theories only to have them dashed by my own testing, later.

For example if you look at a sectional times from SportsColour, I break a 1200m race down into the start first 400M, the race body 400-800m and the race finish, last 400M. By comparing performances between runners you can pick a superior runner. Add this to your own theories on Class and Weight Handicapping and you can see the effect of Weight and Class on the runner...

Race fitness should also show in these figures...

There has to be a way to categorize all this and draw a rule of guidance so you can compare runners between previous races and upcoming expected results.

I'm sure there is a clue in sectional times, through persistance and asking questions, I might just find it.. If I do it'll lift my accuracy another 5-10% which will be financially rewarding.

By the way, www.sportscolour.com.au don't charge for their sectional time info. I'm reluctant to pay for anything I don't have to.


Kind Regards

OzPunter

Ozpunter - Look up the postings made by osulldj to this forum and you should find some very interesting reading about sectional times and related issues such as pace.

osulldj (Daniel O'Sullivan) used to post regular to this forum but now is too involved with a commercial ratings/form provider to share his thoughts any more.

Also look up trb and the Form Pro in google or whatever search engine you use and if you can afford it, purchase the revised version of Tom Brohamer's Modern Pace Handicapping.