Hitting 100 Beyer at Emerald Downs is becoming a racing rarity
http://www.drf.com/news/article/113069.html
Excerpt:
Beyer and his team of employees compile figures for every horse in every race run in North America. Their figures account for the inherent speed of the racetrack on the day the race was run. And on Sunday at Emerald, the surface was off-the-charts fast. Royal Game won a $20,000 maiden claimer in 1:09.20 for six furlongs. Polo Bender captured a $5,000 claimer in 1:08.60. Barata, a 3-year-old filly making her first start, won a $7,500 maiden claimer in 1:09.80.
"Racetracks don't get much faster," Beyer said. "The variants were like minus-50 or faster, which is as souped up as a track can get. It was quite remarkable."
Excerpt:
When Beyer's lieutenants compile speed ratings, they begin with a chart of par times - essentially the average time for a given class at a given distance over the past year or more. They then compare actual race times to the pars. If the actual times are faster than par, they assign a negative variant and adjust the Beyer Speed Ratings accordingly.
