[QUOTE=tucker6]
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Originally Posted by swetyejohn
Agreed. If one had the time, and I do not, you could produce a speed/acceleration graph for the race for both horses, which would likely show a long acceleration by Zenyatta that hit its zenith at 3/16th to a 1/4 mile left, and her decelerating momentum nearly carried to the wire for the win.
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I believe you can simply look at the fractional splits, and see that her speed peaked somewhere in the second fraction, between a 1/4 and 1/2 mile into the race. She walked out, lost contact, then rushed up on the turn to regain contact with the field. That is where she maxed out both her acceleration, and reached her top speed.
I think we're all fascinated by the interplay of pace, running styles, surface, and best efforts. It's an intractable topic. To me, its pretty clear that a one run closer won't run their best effort by shooting their wad in the first turn of a 10F race. I'd guess that running more evenly over the first half (rather than faster
or slower) would have produced a better effort, but who knows for sure.
