Proud Nation finished fifth of nine at Chester on 13 June, beaten nearly three lengths. On the result alone it's a form line you would skip. The sectionals say it was the best horse in the race. The video shows why, then turns that verdict into a rule in the System Builder.
What the form lines show
Switch a horse's form lines to Sectionals and three finishing-speed columns appear. Finishing speed compares the horse's speed to the line with its own average for the race, and these columns set it against that race's par. At Chester all three were well above it.
How the race was run
Pace Curves, in the racecard's Sectional Profile tab, shows how a course and distance is normally run: the speed tails off towards the line. Add the Chester run and it climbs the other way. A big finisher, or a race that dawdled and then sprinted?
The race's own Sectional Analysis answers it. Over each furlong sits its par, adjusted for the ground and set from the winning time. Through the middle every horse was slower than par; over the last two furlongs every horse was faster. The race dawdled, then sprinted, and the fastest final furlong of all was Proud Nation's.
Who the pace suited
A sprint favours whoever is in front. The three up with the pace early finished first, second and third, while Proud Nation was still last with a furlong to run. The Metrics tab turns that finish into an upgrade: the pounds the horse could have found by running more efficiently. Apply it, and Proud Nation comes out first.
One rule for the next one
One horse proves nothing, so make it a rule. In the System Builder the verdict is a single tick: Hard-Luck Story, last time out, a horse that was beaten but comes out first once the sectional model corrects its run. It is settled before the off, so the day's qualifiers appear straight away, ready for the same checks on their racecards.
Back-tested, these horses win about one race in five, well above their share. The verdict is market-par: the price already knows, so it's a shortlist, not a bet.
All of this needs the Sectionals add-on, on RaceMetrics Pro or Proform Premium: RaceMetrics Sectionals on screen, or Full Sectionals on Proform Premium, which adds export. Total Performance Data supplies the raw timing under licence; everything we work out from it is our own. See the plans.
