Uncovering Workout Patterns – TimeformUS Style
In a prior article we discussed the importance of using workouts to evaluate a horse’s current racing “form.” Workouts were described in detail and Daily Racing Form examples were provided, including the option to “merge” workouts into the running lines with DRF Formulator. Click here to view “Workouts – A Measure of Racing Form.”
In this article we’re going to feature workouts, as they are presented in TimeformUS. And specifically, how they help you spot patterns for a horse that is coming back from a layoff. The horse is Come Dancing, and she made her return to racing on July 25, 2018 in the 6th race at Saratoga. Below are her PPs.
Come Dancing PPs
Notice that Come Dancing has been off since January 15 (191 days). Also of interest, she had a layoff after her debut race of 403 days. She won that race convincingly by 61/2 lengths on December 14th. It sure would be nice to know what her workouts looked like prior to that race, but as you can see the only “Works” listed at the bottom are her three most recent. Fortunately, TimeformUS allows you to see more detail by clicking the arrow in the lower left corner of the PPs. When you do that, the following window pops up on the screen:
Come Dancing Detailed Workouts
We drew a box around two sets of workouts. The top one shows her recent workouts leading up to the July 25, 2018 return race. The lower one shows the workouts she had prior to her other return race on December 14. Looking at this some patterns emerge.
- In both cases she had a regular set of workouts evenly spaced out, about one week between each workout.
- She started with a 3 furlong workout, then a couple of 4 furlong works, then a 5 furlong, and finishing with a 4 furlong just before she raced.
- Most of her workouts were over the Belmont dirt Training Track.
- At least one recent workout was a Bullet work.
The only significant change in her pattern of works is the addition of a 6 furlong workout into the mix. With a solid effort of 1:131/5, it would seem that’s a positive addition, especially since it was followed up with another bullet workout at 5 furlongs.
Many trainers have told me that “horses are creatures of habit.” So when you see a horse replicating her pattern from a prior successful comeback, there is every reason to believe she will make a similar return to the races. Come Dancing won by a widening 41/2 length margin on July 25 at Saratoga. And TimeformUS made it easy to uncover the workout patterns that helped identify the racing form of this horse returning to the races.
A footnote to this story. Come Dancing has been entered in a Stakes race on August 1 at Saratoga in the 8th race. This suggests she came out of her return race quite well and is putting together some back-to-back races finally. This pattern fits well with our angle, “B2B Finally, A Positive Sign of Racing Form.” Click here to read that article. Best of luck to Come Dancing and her connections on Wednesday!
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