Exploring the 1st Fraction "Mystery" in the FOY

[Bobby Fischer]

23.83 , 45.55, 1:09.40, 1:35.01

After hand-timing this race countless times, here's the scoop:
The Fountain of Youth was timed from the gate.


RUN UPs and Timers
Out of the gate after a short run-up distance is a quarter pole which is 1 mile from the finish line.
I'll call it the Mile Pole.

The race timer is "supposed to" be triggered when a horse breaks the light beam on the Mile Pole,
then each subsequent quarter pole is triggered as they run, and records the split fractions.

Corrected FOY 1st Fraction
In the Fountain Of Youth Stakes (FOY), and the MSW 2nd race (U S Treasury) also run at the 1 mile distance, the timer starts from right out of the gate. This accounts for an extra 1.4 seconds in 1st quarter and Final Time. The "correct" 1st quarter and final time fractions for the FOY are... 22.43 , 1:33.61.

- Before you go haywire with your speed and pace figures, remember that it is possible that this has been occurring at Mile distances (and maybe others) at Gulfstream for the entire meet! I thought it would be nice to know in terms of comparing Derby trail horses, and having a more accurate look at the reality of the FOY.







Data
FOY
FROM Gate Split 1: 00:00:23 (157)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (249)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (196)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (156)
AVG SPLIT 23.190

FROM MILE POLE
Split 1: 00:00:21 (807)
Split 1: 00:00:21 (720)
Split 1: 00:00:21 (681)
Split 1: 00:00:21 (913)
Split 1: 00:00:21 (813)
AVG SPLIT 21.787

Gate – Mile pole = runUp time = 1.403
Corrected 1st Quarter Fraction = OFFICIAL Time - 1.4 = 22.43
Corrected Final Time Fraction = 95.01- 1.4 = 1:33.61

checking for Official Chart accuracy timed from the 1st quarter to Finish -
Split 1: 00:00:22 (225)
Split 2: 00:00:45 (493)
Split 3: 00:01:11 (323)
Official Final - Hand Timed last 6furlongs = 95.01-71.323 = 23.686 = accuracy confirmed
Hand timed splits for Foy 22.43 , 44.65, 1:07.92, 133.75



Race 2 MSW 1mile (U S Treasury)
From gate
Split 1: 00:00:23 (534)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (492)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (301)
Split 1: 00:00:23 (417)
Avg split 23.436
Actual 23.74

From MIle Pole
Split 1: 00:00:21 (966)
Split 1: 00:00:22 (101)
Split 1: 00:00:22 (.006)
Split 1: 00:00:21 (970)
Avg split 22.01
Runup = Gate – MilePole =1.426

Corrected race2 1st Quarter Fraction = OFFICIAL Time - 1.4 = 22.34
Corrected Race2 Final Time Fraction = 98.36- 1.4 = 1:36.96

[Linny]

Effectively, mile races at GP are timed from a standing start instead of the running start at other distances and at other tracks. The official start pole is very close to the mile start gate because they simply cannot move the gate further back. A similar but less dramatic phenomenon occurs at Saratoga going 7f.

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by Linny

Effectively, mile races at GP are timed from a standing start instead of the running start at other distances and at other tracks. The official start pole is very close to the mile start gate because they simply cannot move the gate further back. A similar but less dramatic phenomenon occurs at Saratoga going 7f.

Similar thing happens in 6F races at Pimlico.

[justindew]

The apparent lack of thought that went into the design of the GP oval is really, really hard to fathom.

[reese]

Originally Posted by justindew

The apparent lack of thought that went into the design of the GP oval is really, really hard to fathom.

A glaring example of just why Magna is going into chapter 11. "Stronach knew better" and tried to turn GP into a shopping mall/racino with live racing as an adjunct.

[Thunder Gulch]

I was on the phone with BT and our collective radar went off as soon as they posted the half mile fraction.

What does this do to the Beyer? If you adjust down almost two full seconds, you have something off the charts....