Furlong calculation for SA's turf course

[Psychotic Parakeet]

What is the exact measurement for the downhill turf course at Santa Anita when horses run at the "about 6 1/2 furlongs"? I keep thinking I read somewhere it was 6.32 furlongs, but I need to double-check if that number is correct. Thank you!

Anyone see California Flag blow through those fractions in the Morvich? Wow!!!

[rtnwin]

The Sartin programs used 6.41 for the "about 6.5" at the SA downhill turf course.

[Tim Y]

I was there when Baffle set the track record down the hill in February 1970 and that was truly amazing going 1:11 4/5's...An accomplished sprinter on both surfaces, he also won up to 9 furlongs on the main track. A truly amazing animal who had one fantastic season.

[socantra]

Wikipedia lists the downhill turf courde at 64.5 feet shy of 6.5 furlongs, which would be 4225.5 feet, or 6.402272727 furlongs.


Dick

[lsosa54]

Originally Posted by rtnwin

The Sartin programs used 6.41 for the "about 6.5" at the SA downhill turf course.

In the manual entry programs, you had the choice to use 6.41 for the distance (maybe it should have been 6.40 as Dick mentioned), but I don't remember any program using 6.41 automatically? Anything using a par time or 3 year best would just use the 3 year best for the 6.5 turf at Santa Anita, but I don't think the distance used was changed to 6.41.

I have no clue if the Trackmaster downloads adjust the distance.

I read or heard somewhere that it didn't make much of a difference. I've used both for manual input and it hasn't made much of a difference, especially when the program uses a meridian variant.

[Ted Craven]

TrackMaster has a ITV adjustment for this 6.5 downhill turf distance/surface/track, and Val/Spec/RDSS also use a custom distance adjustment when using these pace lines in today's race of a different distance.

But I personally think it's all a guesstimate and would do almost anything else first to avoid using one of these lines to represent a horse at a different distance and god-forbid surface/track. When I have no choice, and if I want to work the race, I use thoe lines (and the adjustments) with confidence.

Ted

[socantra]

I suspect that the 6.5 furlongs minus 64.5 feet is a degree of precision that existed only in the mind of some long forgotten PR hack. They don't put the starting gate at the start anyway and I never saw a gate crew using a ruler to place the gate.

The only reason I posted that silly fraction was that I keep a calculator next to my computer and enjoy crunching numbers, whether they mean anything or not. The difference between 6.4 and 6.41 is only about 6 feet.

Dick

[rtnwin]

Originally Posted by lsosa54

In the manual entry programs, you had the choice to use 6.41 for the distance (maybe it should have been 6.40 as Dick mentioned), but I don't remember any program using 6.41 automatically? Anything using a par time or 3 year best would just use the 3 year best for the 6.5 turf at Santa Anita, but I don't think the distance used was changed to 6.41.

I have no clue if the Trackmaster downloads adjust the distance.

I read or heard somewhere that it didn't make much of a difference. I've used both for manual input and it hasn't made much of a difference, especially when the program uses a meridian variant.

You are correct. I was referring to the distance entry in the manual programs. If you are using a meridian variant it will have a minor effect on the 3rd frac. & energy distribution.

Since 6.5 Turf is an aberrant distance and part of the course is downhill I avoid using if for pace lines unless today’s race is the same. In the old manual programs I used to convert it to today’s dist/surf if I couldn't find a more appropriate line.

[Tim Y]

Originally Posted by socantra

I suspect that the 6.5 furlongs minus 64.5 feet is a degree of precision that existed only in the mind of some long forgotten PR hack. They don't put the starting gate at the start anyway and I never saw a gate crew using a ruler to place the gate.

You would be suprised at how "anal" the crew is in getting the gate as CLOSE to the same spot on the track as possible: within a few inches sometimes. They have alignment markers on the rail to help in that accurate placement.

[lsosa54]

The 6.40/6.41 don't make much of a difference (horse 1 and 2). 6.5f, which is horse 3, does make a 2 pt. difference in total energy with a manual adjustment of zero and NOT using the auto projector.

The 1 adjust brings them closer together and the 2 adjust, which I did not show, would equalize the total energies.

Bottom line, I guess you could use 6.40/6.41 or 6.5 for the distance of the paceline, just be consistent. If you're using pacelines other than 6.5 turf in the same race to evaluate contenders, you'll need the 2 adjust anyway.

RDSS does this all automatically.

In my experience, routers that have run a good mile final time and have shown good early speed and early positioning, can win down the hill sometimes at very nice mutuels. I would probably extend this to 8.5f as well - 9f pacelines start to get dicey. Obviously, they need to have acceptable form and shown they can compete at the class level.

Barry Abrams, a SoCal trainer that is probably known more for claiming races and bringing a horse back in 4 days than his turf prowess, has done this on a couple of occasions at monster mutuels, typically for one of his owners, Madeline Auerbach, and he sometimes has an ownership interest in the horse as well. Mrs. Auerbach owns the sire Unusual Heat and is on the TOC Board.

In any case, no matter the trainer or owner, this angle is always worth a look.
Keep in mind that it ALWAYS starts with the horse.