As some of you may know, I'm a bit of a numbers guys. I've always been intrigued by them. Like messing around with them. Keep track of them. Compare them. As my daughter and girlfriend tell me, I'm weird. A dork. They're probably on to something. Anyway, I have this ridiculously large amount of Photo Finish related spreadsheets that I'm always fiddling with. I enjoy working with Excel spreadsheets. My daughter says this makes me REALLY weird. Oh well, if I can manage to bring myself to put fingers to keyboard on a semi-regular basis, we can possibly have some fun with my weirdness.
I've always have a bunch of big projects and ideas in mind that I work on from time to time. Adding to the spreadsheet tally. Sometimes, I get inspired and I make a lot of progress. Sometimes, I just don't have the time to work on things and they get pushed aside. Sometimes, for long stretches. Anyway, one of the things I've been working on lately is track variants. They're just a small part of one of my big ideas, but it's been my main focus at this time.
That being said, I thought that I would share the lowest track variants from the 2019 racing season. In other words, the fastest of the fast. For this article, the focus is on dirt. It should come as no surprise that two particular tracks will dominate this list, Del Mar and Santa Anita. If you're looking for hard dirt, look no further than those two tracks.
Starting with the fastest (or hardest if you prefer), here are the top 10 from 2019 (date, race, track, variant):
- 8-4-19, San Diego Handicap, Del Mar, -5.913313
- 8-26-19, Pacific Classic, Del Mar, -5.897245
- 8-4-19, Sorrento Stakes, Del Mar, -5.775343
- 1-13-19, San Fernando B.C., Santa Anita, -5.75131
- 8-5-19, Chula Vista Handicap, Del Mar, -5.588026
- 1-21-19, Snowflake Stakes, Santa Anita, -5.278395
- 1-6-19, Santa Ysabel Stakes, Santa Anita, -5.057328
- 7-22-19, Bing Crosby B.C., Del Mar, -5.026521
- 6-1-19, Starter Allowance, Del Mar, -4.994294
- 2-25-19, Filly Breeders Stakes, Santa Anita, -4.602174
Just out of curiosity, let's take a look at the "slowest" variant these two tracks had in 2019.
Del Mar - 9/5/19, Del Mar Futurity, -0.6988415
Santa Anita - 3/10/19, Rosalynn Stakes, 0.5467945
As a contrast to the fastest of the fast list, we'll now take a look at the slowest of the fast. These tracks had the highest track variant while still being classified as a fast track.
- 11-22-19, Pennsylvania Nursery, Philadelphia Park, 7.336635
- 1-11-19, Tiffany Lass Stakes, Fair Grounds, 6.23666
- 1-1-19, Interborough Handicap, Aqueduct, 5.99908
- 2-8-19, Whirlaway Handicap, Fair Grounds, 5.996746
- 1-11-19, F.W. Gaudin Mem., Fair Grounds, 5.93069
- 10-4-19, Gallant Bob Handicap, Philadelphia Park, 5.81689
- 1-2-19, Truly Bound Handicap, Fair Grounds, 5.803295
- 9-3-19, Forego Handicap, Saratoga, 5.739571
- 12-8-19, Louisiana Champions Day, Fair Grounds, 5.598632
- 9-6-19, Endine Handicap, Delaware Park, 5.592479
Let's do the same with this list, the "fastest" variant that these bottom ten tracks had in 2019.
Aqueduct - 11/4/19, Nashua Stakes, -0.9270154
Delaware Park - 7/20/19, Light Hearted Handicap, 0.1806598
Fair Grounds - 3/15/19, Magnolia State Stakes, 0.3164386
Philadelphia Park - 9/3/19, Pennsylvania Derby, 1.8631
Saratoga - 8/15/19, Saratoga Special, 0.3532428
I certainly provided a lot of numbers. Hopefully, it's been fun. Or at least a little interesting. Perhaps, a cure for insomnia? I may have to change the title at some point. We'll see. Until next time...
5 comments:
Now that is something that I haven't given a lot of thought to over the years. The only thing I can say about tracks, and this is only a feeling that is not really born out by any research, is that War Machine never did any good at Santa Anita... which is weird because he liked hard dirt quite a bit.
I'm guessing that you might be thinking of one of your other horses. War Machine at Santa Anita 5:3-1-0. The second was in his third career start. In a sprint. To a track record by a filly that set one world record and two track records in the first four starts of her career.
His other loss was a fifth place finish in the Big Cap. Not quite four lengths behind another track record. By a winner of $7 million. Second place horse was an $8 million winner. Third, $6 million. Fourth, $11 million. And the sixth place horse was a bum that only won $10 million. Pretty soft field there.
Hahaha... I guess I should have checked my facts before I spoke. As you said, it must be another horse I'm thinking of.
Seeing Delaware Park on the highest track variant list doesn't seem to follow the list when compared to track cushion and track variant on the Trackmaster download. Suffolk Park and Sportsman's Park are surprisingly missing.
I think Santa Anita, Del Mar and Turf Paradise are definitely the fastest surfaces when looking at Trackmaster.
Delaware is there just on the basis of the one race. It's other variants from the ten races listed as fast were: 0.18, 0.27, 0.63, 2.35, 2.50, 2.67, 2.91, 3.08, 3.23, and 3.36. The only other race from Delaware came in at a 15.64, not quite listed as fast though.
Suffolk Downs had three races listed as fast: 3.97, 4.01, and 4.61. It's only other race was listed as good and came in at 6.07.
We don't use Sportman's Park.
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