SOME of the time a horse’s overall time will tell you how good he or she is, some of the time it will not, the latter usually as a result of an inefficient pace. That tends not to be such a big deal with exposed horses, who may well have a meaningful timefigure in the not-too-distant past, but it is more of an issue with those that are just setting out.

In order to bridge the gap between final time and true ability, it is necessary to consider sectional times. As explained previously, there is a tried-and-trusted formula for upgrading overall performances according to how efficiently they were achieved: the further from sectional par a horse performed the more its timefigure merits upgrading.