Some of the sharpest judges in racing compare races on the same card. Line up the closing stages of a big handicap and a Group race, and if a handicapper ran as fast as the Group horses over the same ground, it may well be ahead of its mark. Race Compare does that for you, from the sectional times, furlong by furlong.
How it works
Pick a day and a race for each side. Race A is the benchmark, the better race; Race B is the race you are searching. Start the clock at a furlong marker both races pass, and every runner from both races is ranked over that same stretch of ground, in seconds and in lengths. A Race B runner that got within a length of a Race A runner is highlighted, with the horse it matched and where that horse finished.
Before any figure, read the check above the list. It says in plain words whether the two races are like for like: the same course, the same day, the same going, the same type of race. It also has a pace line: when one race was run at a steadier early pace, its closing times look quicker than they really are, and the check tells you which race that flatters and by roughly how many lengths.
Two extra sets of columns can be switched on. Finishing speed shows how fast each horse ran from the clock start to the line against its own average for the race, and against the par for an evenly run race. Upgrades shows the pounds each runner could have found by running its race more efficiently. Pick one horse from each race and the panel underneath sets their figures side by side, with three charts: furlong times, the running gap in lengths, and pace against par.
The Wokingham and the Jubilee
At Royal Ascot in 2025, the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes and the Wokingham were run over the same six furlongs, eighty minutes apart. Same course, same day, same going, and the pace line says the two races were run alike, so the times compare straight.
From five furlongs out, the quickest horse of all 42 runners was a handicapper. More Thunder finished second in the Wokingham off an official rating of 98, yet over the last five furlongs he was faster than every horse in the Group 1, the winner included. Next time out he won the Bunbury Cup, then the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes. This year he was second in the Lockinge and the Queen Anne, and won the Group 2 Park Stakes. He is rated 119 now. Aramram, sixth in the same Wokingham and within a length of the Group 1 winner, went on to win a Listed race and run in Group 1s.
The Challenge Cup and the Bengough
At Ascot on 4 October 2025, the Bengough Stakes (Group 3, six furlongs) was followed by the Challenge Cup, a seven-furlong handicap. Same day, same going, and the pace barely matters. Native Warrior won the handicap off 103. From five furlongs out he was half a length behind the Group 3 winner and quicker than its second and third, having run a furlong further, while the rest of his race were nearly four lengths behind him. He went on to win the Group 3 Ballycorus Stakes at Leopardstown and is rated 109 now.
What to look for
A handicapper close to Group or Graded horses, in a race the pace line does not flatter, ideally one that had run as far or further. Note it, and watch for its next run.
Who can use it
Race Compare is part of the Sectionals add-on, on top of RaceMetrics Pro or Proform Premium. Open it from any race's Sectionals panel with "Compare with another race", or go straight to Race Compare.
