As detailed in previous blogs - columns; what matters most is NOT the workout time, it’s HOW the horse does it.  Not that ‘slow’ works are better than “fast” works but it’s essential to both understand what workout times mean, at the sales or on the racetrack, and be clear about just how accurate (or perhaps more correctly how inaccurate) published workouts really are.

First, it’s important to fully grasp that almost any horse can be pushed to work ‘fast’, but that’s not the goal of most works. They pay for fast race times, not fast work times, which is why if you want to know how your horse is training you need to see the work (preferably in person or at least on video) and hear what the rider felt and what the trainer observed, rather than focus on times. If your horse works ‘slow’ and the rider comes back and says “I had a ton of horse, could have gone a lot faster” that’s a LOT better than if the horse has a ‘bullet’ work and the rider comes back and says “he got real tired, nothing left at the end”.

The same applies at the sales. People pay a premium for fast work times (and black type pedigrees). Both are overrated and their actual value is not well understood. A two year old working 1/8^th of a mile in 9.4 at the sale says little about its ability to run fast in a one mile race, yet people will almost always pay an outrageous premium for the same horse if it works 1/8^th of a mile in a couple fifths of a second quicker. Remember also the recorded time doesn’t tell you how fast or easily the horse gallops out afterwards. Some ‘shut down’ after the work, others are just getting started and gallop out with speed to spare. That's one reason so many horses that sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars at the sales never run and/or or never win.  

Finally, sad to say, published workout times at the racetrack are, to say the very least, highly inaccurate. Bettors wager considerable money on numbers that, putting it mildly, leave much to be desired. An article in the May 15^th edition of the TDN by Brian DeDonato, Published Workouts: Inaccuracies are Inexcusable, offers an excellent ‘educational moment’ for anyone who relies on published workout times at racetracks. Take a look below….

Bottom line, until our industry develops an accurate system for recording racetrack workouts AND owners and bettors alike educate themselves about what workout times at the sales and on the racetrack really mean, misinformation and inaccuracies will continue to rule the day.