Johnson and Durkin

[pointman]

Originally Posted by copying

You clearly don't understand. That is exactly what I'm trying to say. If you rely on Durkin to tell you "Oh! the half in '46" - that doesn't tell you a damn thing - maidens may run the half in 46; the track plays differently day to day.
You need to know who is right behind, tugging on the reins, looking for room, full of run etc. Who's running easily, who is being pushed, who is all out. Telling you what happened is useless. Tell me what's about to happen.

So if you bet on a frontrunner in a claiming race and the quarter has gone 21 flat and the half 43, you don't want to know that your horse is almost certain to back up in the stretch? Or if you bet the closer in the same race, you don't want to know that the same fractions are setting your horse up for a big run?

We can see a horse during a race and whether the rider is sitting still or pushing the horse or whether the horse is getting a bad trip, but we can't always see the fractions. I suppose that information is useful when you are for some reason only hearing the race without watching it, but where does that really happen other than ATR or when TVG is on Sirius. While time is not everything, it can certainly give clues as to who is getting the best and worst of it that many, including me wish to know.

BTW, personally, I leave the east coast, west coast thing to Rappers.