With Friday’s announcement that Trakus, the official timer at Gulfstream Park, was correcting the final time of the January 28 Pegasus World Cup (G1), Arrogate was duly recognized for setting a new track record.
Arrogate was originally credited with finishing 1 1/8 miles in 1:47.61. But clocker Bruno De Julio came up with a considerably faster time, and consulted with Timeform US’s Craig Milkowski, who did sleuthing of his own that corroborated De Julio’s findings.
Trakus went back to analyze the Pegasus and likewise concluded that the initial clocking was inaccurate. Arrogate’s time was lowered to a track-record 1:46.83, eclipsing Lea’s mark of 1:46.86 that had stood since the 2014 Donn H. (G1).
Arrogate’s BRIS Speed figure was accordingly bumped from a 112, derived from the inaccurately reported time, to a 115. That matches the 115 BRIS Speed rating he’d earned in his prior start, the November 5 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), and reinforces the point Ed DeRosa made about Arrogate’s historic stature.
Arrogate has now set track records in two of his past three starts. In the Travers (G1) at Saratoga last August, he established a new 1 1/4-mile mark in 1:59.36, and notched a 124 Speed rating – the highest since BRIS began its Speed figures in 1990.
Below is the Trakus press release, via Gulfstream Park:
A correction has been made to the official finish time for the 1 1/8 mile Pegasus World Cup (G1) run at Gulfstream Park on January 28, 2017. Upon subsequent detailed review of the race performance data, it has been determined that the winning horse ARROGATE (Unbridled’s Song) finished the race in 1:46.83. This finish time sets a new Gulfstream Park track record for the 1 1/8 mile race run on the dirt surface (previous track record at this distance held by LEA at the 2014 Donn Hcp in 1:46.86). Updated charts are now available on Gulfstream Park’s website and through Equibase.
Gulfstream Park employs Trakus for its tracking and timing services. The Trakus System works by using a small radio transceiver outfitted on each horse, and a network of antennas and computing equipment located around the racecourse. Trakus technology is deployed at major racecourses around the world (additional details available on the Trakus website), and has been in operation at Gulfstream Park since 2011. The company has recently completed a comprehensive review of the race data for the Pegasus World Cup, working with Gulfstream Park’s management team and industry partner Equibase.
Trakus technology functions reliably, robustly, and on a daily basis all over the world, and has been operated for more than 110,000 races since its introduction in 2006. During the Pegasus World Cup, a minor anomaly in the underlying tracking data was experienced for ARROGATE in the measurement cycle reporting as the horse approached the finish line. On major race days, extreme environmental conditions are not unusual, and may impact reliable tracking performance. Such conditions existed during the record-setting Pegasus World Cup, which resulted in the live race final time being measured with an error of a fraction of a second (initially reported as 1:47.61). Although the chart was initially delayed and reviewed by Trakus standard quality assurance protocols, the results were subsequently posted for all runners containing the incorrect winning finish time. A frame-by-frame video replay analysis showed the correct winning time to be 1:46.83.
Trakus regrets the incorrect reporting of the finish time and apologizes for any inconvenience caused to our partner, Gulfstream Park, their fans and horsemen, and all industry stakeholders. The company is continuously investing in its technology development efforts, training procedures, and racing operations support staff in order to provide the most accurate and reliable information possible to its racetrack partners and racing fans.
