Sectional Debrief: Betfair King George, Ascot

It amounts to a truism to state that setting a course record requires circumstances conducive to doing just that. Often enough, over the years, time records have been a reflection of fast ground and a strong pace as much as of the emergence of a horse of superlative ability. But to break a course record at Ascot - where fast ground and superlative horses are far from rare - and to do so by more than 2 seconds, as Novellist did in Saturday's feature race, has to make you sit up and take notice. 

There can be no doubt that the ground helped. The times throughout the card were fast, and Novellist's was not the only course record on it. In the process, not only did Novellist better Harbinger's 2m 26.78s time, achieved in this race in 2010, but so did the next four home!

That was also a function of the pace, which was strong without being so strong that there was a collapse. Ektihaam and Universal forced it, but Novellist raced mostly in fourth and never more than about five lengths back. He struck for home two furlongs out and nothing could live with him as he went on to score by five lengths. 

As the sectionals below show, it was not a case of others slowing (which had been a small factor in Harbinger's success), as most of them ran fairly efficiently in terms of finishing speed %s. Indeed, Novellist's sub-36 seconds last three furlongs were fast, even for the conditions, and suggest he might have had even more to give!

By way of comparison, the estimated sectional times and finishing speeds of the previous three winners of this great race were: Harbinger in 2010, 36.9s (99.4%); Nathaniel in 2011, 36.3s (106.8%); and Danedream in 2012, 36.85s (102.9%). 

Put into their proper context, the overall times and sectionals together point to an excellent performance on the clock from Novellist, one that suggests he could be even better than this if something can push him to such a performance. They also suggest that Hillstar, not for the first time, may be a bit better than the result: he was left with a fair bit to do and came home faster than par himself. 

A sectional figure into the 130s could be justified on Novellist, and it will be interesting to see whether his overall Timeform timefigure - which will be available on Monday - backs that up. The fastest Timeform timefigure this century is the 136.25 posted by Frankel in the International Stakes at York in 2012. 

It is easy to point out that this appeared a somewhat weak King George overall, and all the more so after Cirrus des Aigles failed to run to his best. But that does not mean that a clear-cut winner in a very fast time is in any way substandard. The time and the sectionals strongly suggest otherwise.      

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