Where does a horse need to be?

[Capper Al]

As I'm implementing my pace module, the question came up, "Where does a horse need to be by running style?" When I Googled it and scanned some old books, it was surprising that there was little information and some disagreement. William Scott's approach is plausible:

6-6.5f less than 3 lengths is close up.
7-8f less than 4 lengths is close up
8f< less than 5enghts

Scanning I didn't find any references to running style.

Here's my take:


RS 1st Call 2nd Call
(Pos/Lgts)
E <3/1 lgts 1st
EP <4/4 lgts <3/ 3 lgts
P <5/ 4 lgts <3/ 3 lgts
S NA NA Strch 6 lgts



Someone suggested a simple, "the horse has to be at least within one length at some point". This does make sense for all except closers. What's your take on running style by call?

[Robert Fischer]

'Running styles' are models of reality, not vice versa.


If we say that Danzing Candy is truly a need-to-lead type(debatable, but lets lean there for the sake of this post), than he has to be on the lead.

Anyone else that is capable of rating needs to be where that individual horse has the best chance of winning...

Nyquist is thought to be best suited to be somewhere in the first half of the field, preferably what we would call E/P. He has a high cruising-speed, so he can relax and run near the lead. The pace is also expected to be moderate.

Whitmore is a horse who many believe should be a little closer than in his recent races with Irad Ortiz. He has displayed some tactical speed and a good response that has been better than the closers, but his closing kick has not been as good as the closers. Thus, many armchair trainer/jockey/pace-expert are imploring him to be a bit more mid-pack.

[Capper Al]

'Running styles' are models of reality, not vice versa.


If we say that Danzing Candy (20) is truly a need-to-lead type(debatable, but lets lean there for the sake of this post), than he has to be on the lead.

Anyone else that is capable of rating needs to be where that individual horse has the best chance of winning...

Nyquist (13) is thought to be best suited to be somewhere in the first half of the field, preferably what we would call E/P. He has a high cruising-speed, so he can relax and run near the lead. The pace is also expected to be moderate.

Whitmore (10) is a horse who many believe should be a little closer than in his recent races with Irad Ortiz. He has displayed some tactical speed and a good response that has been better than the closers, but his closing kick has not been as good as the closers. Thus, many armchair trainer/jockey/pace-expert are imploring him to be a bit more mid-pack.

Numbers added to identify horses.