My understanding of the Z pattern is a horse who is close to the pace, then loses positions and/or lengths between two points of call, then gains ground to the finish. The idea is that the horse had two workouts during a race.
Examples might include:
2-1 2-hd 6-5 4-3
1-hd 2-1 5-8 3-4½
3-2 4-3 7-8 5-2
The idea as I understand it is one of two things: the horse got impeded at some point or the horse had two workouts in the race: one to be in contention and a second one in the last part of the race. Scott Flohr detailed something similar in his book, only the horse maintained position from the stretch to finish.
One problem with the "Z" is that the loss of ground may have been simply because the horse was unsound and blew the turn. With the Z pattern, it might be a good idea to watch the replay of the race.
Last edited by Pensacola Pete; 07-02-2016 at 12:28 PM.
Reason: correcting information
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