To halfway
All times are ‘actual’. Shading: -10 going, -20 going
Ballinabola Ed was once again the fastest hound to halfway in the third round of the Derby – and by quite some margin. He even found seven spots on his previous split.
Of the 24 qualifiers, 15 improved on their second round sectionals with Kilkenny Santy showing the most progress
The opposite was true of Kildare who enjoyed nothing like the sort of run that he enjoyed in the previous round. Faughan Rebel was the slowest to the halfway mark though he actually improved three spots on his previous attempt.
An interesting comparison too between half brothers Signet Ace and Signet Goofy who both appeared in the top four.
From halfway
It was a very different story from halfway though with Faughan Rebel dominating with a 13.34 run, some 18 spots quicker than his previous best.
But it was Global Vision who found the most time in the second half with a four length improvement on his previous run.
In total, 18 of the 24 runners struggled more in the second half of the race than in the second round.
Over three round: Most recent run at the top.
So what does it all look like when comparing runs across all three rounds?
Looking at Ballinabola Ed, there must be a suggestion that the -10 going allowance on Saturday was on the lenient side. Although .10 of the 15 spot loss is accounted for with a going calculation, his sectional suggests that he might actually have gone quicker on a faster track.
But it would be wise not to get too carried away by perceptions of a bottomless surface. A couple of interesting examples of that are the last two on the list. On calculated times, Singalong Sally has has three runs separated by nine spots, but only four spots in actual times.
And what of Signet Goofy , arguably the most ‘sprinty’ runner in the 24, if not the original 192?
He has three sectionals within two spots and three calculated times within a length.
Finally – our regular bit of silliness. What if you could stitch together the two best halves of the three perfomances to date? You end up with something that looks like this!
