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Captain's Blog - Thursday 22nd March 2012

It has to be good news that sectional timing will be in place courtesy of Turftrax for the whole of the Qipco series this flat season. Sectional times are long overdue in this country, but we must keep them simple. All we need are the sectionals every two furlongs, and a final time. If we are going to derive any benefit from them they have to be simple, so that they create a mindset where people automatically know that, for eaxample, in a mile race 23.5 for the first quarter mile is too quick.

We do not need to know how fast the horses are running, just how long it took them to flash through quarter mile segments. Turftrax timing mechanisms start when the stalls open and that means the first quarter sectionals will be slower than those that many may be used to in the States, and that is because in America the timer starts after the horses have already got going, a running start if you like. This lack of uniformity baffles me, but there you go. All we need to understand a race is quarter mile sectionals, so in a six furlong race two sectionals and a final time is all that is required, no clever boy analysis needed, after all sectional times have been used very succesfully in the states for years and for us to think that we can improve on them by complicating the whole thing is sadly misguided. keep them simple and they will become a vital tool in the punters armoury, complicate the issue and people will be turned off. We have momentum on this vital issue, lets not lose it.

I am at home today, but will return to the office tomorrow for a day in the booth covering all the action from Newbury. I am pleased to be home today because the weather is great and I can get out in the garden and get some tidying up done as well as put together a slide that I have bought for my daughter. I need to have it up and runnig by the time she gets home form Nursery today and with my DIY record as it is I need to get on with this project pretty quickly. You may ask how hard can it be? Very is the answer, for me at least.

Right time to see if the lawnmower is still alive after a winter in the shed.

All the best.

Today’s Selection

5.20 Wolverhampton – Spin Cast ( each way 11/2 various firms)