HORSERACING is not all about numbers and facts, despite the impression this column may sometimes give: it is about tradition and history also. But sometimes the numbers, facts, tradition and history are – or should be – intertwined.

It matters to an appreciation of the sport, for instance, to know that Shergar’s 10-length win in the Derby at Epsom came by a record margin, that Frankel’s 147 rating with Timeform is the highest in history, or that Dayjur’s time of 56.16s in 1990 remains the fastest ever in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York.

By a similar token, it might well matter to fans of the sport that Battaash broke 10.0s for a furlong on his way to winning the Qatar King George Stakes at Goodwood last week, if only they were aware of that fact and of its significance.

There were no official sectional times at this year’s Goodwood Festival, as there were none at Royal Ascot, or Epsom, or at all other major racing events run in Ireland and Britain so far this year.

The BHA is, belatedly, showing an interest in providing guidance and support in this area, but one wonders how many historic moments – such as Frankel’s mid-race splits in the 2000 Guineas and Kingman’s scorching late sectionals at Royal Ascot and Goodwood – have been lost along the way.

REMARKABLE

As it is, uninterrupted aerial shots made it possible to gauge from sophisticated video analysis that Battaash ran about 9.90s for the second furlong of his King George win and that is especially remarkable given that he did it while scything past his rivals on the bridle.

I can find no other example of a horse running under 10.0s for a full furlong (Black Caviar’s fastest reported split of 9.98s for 200 metres equates to 10.04s), though I have a vague recollection of one or two dipping under that benchmark in this race around the turn of the century, in a more enlightened age when electronic sectionals existed. But that evidence seems to have been lost to history also.

So, you will have to take my word about Battaash’s ‘Usain Bolt moment’, and the sport will continue, for now, with an incomplete appreciation of its main protagonists: it does not have to be this way.

CIRCUMSTANCES

Fast times are, of course, a product not just of fast horses but of circumstances also. In the King George, those circumstances included an easy track, drying ground and an opening furlong that was surprisingly tepid as these things go.

Nonetheless, Battaash’s overall time of 56.50s equates to a timefigure of 129 on my scale, a figure surpassed only by the one-two in Ascot’s 12-furlong King George and by Alpha Centauri so far this season, though Blue Point equalled it when beating Battaash in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The past King George winners Take Cover (108 timefigure) and Muthmir (106) were left trailing in Battaash’s wake, in a race in which the winner put in other sectionals of 10.35s and 10.65s mid-race.

A rematch between Battaash and Blue Point, could take place at York and should be something to behold. Battaash is a better horse overall but came unstuck at Ascot, where he ran the last furlong in over 12.0s, and even here he was probably coming to the end of his tether late on, with a final furlong of 11.80s.

York is flat and speed-favouring and its five furlongs is ideal for a horse like Battaash. Who knows, if the sun continues to shine, maybe he will finally lower that Dayjur timing record from 28 years ago!