Another strange day at Ocala. No works of 9.4 today, but a huge number of 10.0’s. Maybe the surface is unchanged, but the jockeys are getting bigger head starts.
A Cupid was one of the 20.2 bullets today.
I may need to take a harder look at the 10.2’s, or maybe the 21.3’s
The TDN article has a better explanation of why the distribution of works seems to have changed.
At least one major consigner said he is choosing to work 1f instead of 2f because many buyers are more focused on “run out” times. Run out time are the privately clocked times for the horses as they pass the finish line and run the clubhouse turn.
The number of 2f works did fall from 33 the first day to just 24 the third day. That could explain why we saw more 10.0 works on day 3.
It is bad enough that time are not reported in decimals, i.e. 10. 17 is called as 10.0. Now large buyers are using non-public times to gain an edge.
It make the little guy less likely to participate in the sale, and it also pushes the horses to due essential 4 to 5 furlongs works at a very young age.
Buying A Race Horse 