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I realize that handicappers need all the info they can get. However, in the case of workouts, you get such a small portion of info, it is IMO, not worth the effort.
Case in point, two horses workout within minutes of each other , by themselves, and everything is equal.
Horse one works a 1/2 mile in :50.
He goes splits of 14,13,12,11.
That is a very solid workout.
Horse two works a 1/2 mile in :49.
The splits are 11,11,13,14.
That is a very disturbing workout.
They both run against each other five days later. Logic seems to say that the horse that worked 49 outworked the horse that worked in 50.
That logic would be dead wrong.
Unless you can see the circumstances of each work, like one worked at dawn before the track was chopped up or right after the break and the other worked at 9:45 and the track was cuppy , dry and all cut up. Or were they in company? Or what was the objective of the work? The list goes on and on.
Another is when you see a bunch of 1/2 mile works and the horse is off a layoff going much further than a half a mile. Is he fit? If you know the trainer, you have a better shot of figuring that out than going by times and distances of works.
Often times a trainer can work a horse a mile but wants to emphasize relaxing so the horse will go 1/8ths in 15, also called a two minute lick, for two or three 1/8ths then go 14 and THEN work a half in :50. You see the 1/2 in :50 but there is so much more to the story. (Clockers will not start timing a horse that is going at a 2 minute click. They wait until the horse picks up speed before timing it.)And if that horse was horse number one I spoke about earlier, that is a great work.
My best advice would be to understand the trainer and what they typically do. Some love bullets, some hate bullets.
Learn the trainers habits and the picture will become clearer.
Hope that helps.
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