Rarely do you see what happened in Sunday’s fourth race at Santa Anita. Before anyone gets carried away, let’s just state that this blog is not suggesting the winner of the race, is a champion in the making – this was a state-bred maiden special weight event, and the winner, Market Quote, was a debuting 4-year-old.
Under jockey Joe Talamo, Market Quote stood in the gate, actually appearing startled when it opened, and was hopelessly last. Almost immediately, it seemed this first try for the daughter of After Market would be an effort in gaining experience. Adding to the likely leg-stretching-on-debut concept was the fact that first time starters for trainer John Shirreffs were 1-for-22 over the last year, with that lone win coming via Zenyatta’s half-sister Eblouissante. Instead, Market Quote turned in a visually impressive performance that had track announcer Trevor Denman stunned.
“Left in the gate was Market Quote,” Denman panned at the break, “the five, Market Quote, very slow to begin.”
Perhaps an understatement.
“Market Quote running a brave one…can she possibly win after being left in the gate, it looks like she can…Market Quote’s gonna get up, tremendous effort.”
Given the pace of the race, perhaps the best thing for Market Quote was her tardy dispatch.
Run-up, the distance horses run before race timing begins, and the amount of ground before the horses are actually as far from the finish as the listed distance of the race, is a fairly unique to racing in North, and in some cases, South America. In Europe, South Africa, Asia, and Australia, race timings begin on the break of the gate, with some jurisdictions using an electric pulse tied to the starter’s mechanism. The run-up in one-mile races at Santa Anita, with the rail down, is not insignificant – listed in the official Equibase chart as 159 feet. That suggests horses run almost a quarter-furlong before race timing begins, taking this field approximately five seconds before they reach the point that is one mile from the finish. Longer run-ups often lead to faster sectional times – races seem faster because the sectional times give that indication, but it is really more a function of the amount of ground horses cover in getting to the point where actual timing began.
In just the space of the run-up from this particular race, Trakus recorded Market Quote to be approximately ten lengths behind the leaders through that distance, again, approximately a quarter-furlong. After the first sixteenth, Market Quote was 8 ½ lengths behind the last place horse, and approximately fourteen lengths back from the leader.
Now, for greater context, the individual furlong sectional times for the full field are below. Take specific note of the sectionals between Market Quote and eventual second place finisher Top Kisser.
Jan 20, 2013 - Santa Anita Race 4 - Maiden Special Weight - 1 Mile (Turf)
|
Pos |
# |
Horse |
1/8 |
1/4 |
3/8 |
1/2 |
5/8 |
3/4 |
7/8 |
FIN |
|
1st |
5 |
Market Quote |
13.14 |
11.14 |
11.11 |
11.40 |
11.57 |
12.18 |
12.21 |
12.15 |
|
2nd |
9 |
Top Kisser |
10.90 |
11.03 |
11.57 |
11.83 |
11.98 |
12.55 |
12.55 |
12.53 |
|
3rd |
4 |
Annalili |
11.62 |
11.34 |
11.23 |
11.48 |
11.86 |
12.61 |
12.61 |
12.64 |
|
4th |
2 |
Krazypapaya |
11.96 |
11.34 |
11.29 |
11.54 |
11.98 |
12.49 |
12.41 |
12.56 |
|
5th |
6 |
St. Malo's Gate |
11.86 |
11.17 |
11.17 |
11.48 |
11.98 |
12.70 |
12.69 |
12.64 |
|
6th |
3 |
Too Many Rules |
10.87 |
10.77 |
11.31 |
11.92 |
12.23 |
12.70 |
12.90 |
13.25 |
|
7th |
8 |
Gia Is a Bella |
11.53 |
11.12 |
11.25 |
11.57 |
11.98 |
12.55 |
12.84 |
13.34 |
|
8th |
7 |
Little Unusual |
11.90 |
11.17 |
11.16 |
11.43 |
12.09 |
13.02 |
12.96 |
13.56 |
|
9th |
10 |
My Yammy Heat |
10.79 |
10.91 |
11.26 |
11.94 |
12.53 |
13.65 |
14.43 |
14.80 |
While Market Quote was 2.24 seconds slower than Top Kisser through the first furlong, and 0.11 seconds slower in the second furlong (a total of 2.35 seconds slower), notice how Market Quote is no less than 0.33 seconds faster in every segment from the 3/8ths section through the finish. Market Quote ran the final six furlongs in 1:10.62 while Top Kisser got that distance in 1:13.01 – a difference of 2.39 seconds, enough to make up for their early gapped margin.
When judging the final times, Market Quote and Top Kisser ran very similar races, but the methods of getting to that point, while highly unintended by Joe Talamo aboard his gate-sleepy mount, were incredibly different.
