Sectional Debrief: Kempton, Wednesday May 23

Kempton's Wednesday evening meeting was about as uneventful as it is possible to be from a sectional point of view. Only one of the winners, and a small number of the also-rans, merited a mark-up of more than 1 lb, though the general level of sectional ratings has been pitched slightly higher than the figures which have been based on overall time. 

Intomist's win in a decent overall time may be rather better than generally appreciated, but it was achieved in a pretty efficient manner, and a horse on the back of three straight wins is unlikely to catch anyone unawares next time. 

Grendisar - who might easily have made the "to follow" list last time, having a race identified as strong sectionally - posted a modest overall time and just respectable sectionals, so he also does not make the cut. However, it should be noted that those sectionals suggest he should be rated something like an extra 4 lb better than his rivals in form terms, so he may still have prospects of following up. 

Church Music's 35.0s sectional (approximately half a second back at the 3f point) was easily the fastest of the day, but that owes plenty to the race being the shortest and classiest on the card. Times pointed to conditions being slightly slower than usual, and that sectional is still well behind Zurigha (33.3s) as the fastest at the track recently. 

The best bet to get some mileage out of the figures is to identify weak form, and the prime candidate is the 2yo maiden won by Thewandaofu. A bunched finish makes it look ordinary form, and the overall time and sectionals make it look even worse than that, with third-placed Top of The Glas (came from behind) possibly the only exemption. Thewandaofu and runner-up Stellarta may be overbet next time. 

It has been a bad week for the sectional-timing lists, with three losers and a winner (Foxhaven) who was not supposed to win, taking them marginally into deficit. To a degree, such lists are at the mercy of unforeseen circumstances regarding going, distance, draw and the races the horses subsequently run in. But one or two of the selections - Dark Templar, in particular - look to have been ill-advised. 

That said, another "to follow" horse, Bright Glow, looked to have been anything but ill-advised at Lingfield yesterday, a combination of draw, trip and early traffic meaning she got too far back before rattling home into second, posting a last 2f of about 22.3s (can be rated 7 lb better than the result). She is retained, though will hardly have slipped under the radar with such an eye-catching effort.    

Yesterday also saw an historic moment in sectional timing as the governing body of racing in Britain, the BHA, used it in their evidence when convicting Eddie Ahern of corruption aboard Judgethemoment at Lingfield in January 2011. Sectionals showed that Judgethemoment set off much faster than could be expected, or was reasonable, for a two-mile race, and the heavily-opposed horse predictably wilted later on.
 
Congratulations go to the BHA for showing such initiative and insight, while I have resisted the temptation to add Judgethemoment retrospectively to the list as one to note for a sprint...

To Follow: Bright Glow (retained)
To Oppose: Thewandaofu, Stellarta

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