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