Quote:
Originally Posted by MJC922
Not sure here, I don't have any inside detail on it. Been many years since I've been on track observing so I could be wrong, I'm almost sure I've seen a beam near the gate at these odd distances just like the others. So at a track like FL at 1-70 you have the beam tripped after the break and then at the wire we know it's tripped because that's a mile out so the 70 yard time should be known. From the gate then to the 3/4 pole would be a known time for the entire first quarter plus the 70 yards -- from there I suspect they just subtract. Didn't Ragozin say in his book that his team found one or two of the tracks were just using some constant number of seconds? It wasn't even the actual time for the 70, it was like 4 seconds no matter what. I forgot the details and don't want to misquote. Granted leaving the gate in a route I imagine it's 4.2 seconds an awful lot of the time but using a constant (if that's what they're doing anywhere) is just wrong.
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I don't think there is consistency track to track. I know Will Rogers Downs shows the first fraction at times, the first 70 yards. I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on when I saw it at first.
I think like you they are using subtraction. Just time the start until the 1m pole then record the fractions like usual and must subtract the start. The difference, of course, is that you are getting a true "first 1/4", first "1/2", etc. You are getting the a made up fraction, from the 1m pole to the 3/4 pole for the first 1/4, and so on.
It isn't that big an issue, but how many people actually realize this is going on? I'm guessing slim and none, and comparing fractions at these distances to races at 1m 1/16 or 1m would be fraught with problems.