The standard is that you have to run a race in perfect weather to be fair, and in perfect weather you run the best possible race. The horse will run just as fast or faster in a good weather quarter as they would in an out-of-season race. This is called the ‘best weather factor’ by the racing fraternity.
So that’s the standard?
Well no, not really. The fact is that in the very early days, there was a standard that no horse could win, no matter how good it might be – whether it was running well on the last day, or even in April! And there was no ‘best weather factor’.
Is there any evidence that this standard ever came into effect?
We know of no evidence that these standards have ever been applied. In the last century, in 1864 a horse broke the fastest time that has ever been recorded. It did not break the speed record for any other reason. The time was run while his head was ‘humping the ground’, which was standard practice in British cavalry at the time. To get a horse to run this pace you had to give him a heavy head massage. In 1869, a horse broke the world record for breaking the 2 hour 20 minute mile, which was done whilst his head was ‘humping the ground’.
What is the best weather and what is the worst weather?
All horses need two conditions in which to run effectively: good weather and bad weather.
A good weather quarter is at least a good temperature and plenty of light wind. In bad weather, no horse should run.
There are four grades of the day in racing. The first of these are the first race, first half and last race: the horse first starts at a good speed, so that when it’s too cold, he can run as fast or faster than the others. The other three are second race, second half and last race. In the second race the first horse can then be broken out in second place. In the third race the second horse can then run as fast as the horses who came in second. In the fourth race the third horse can then run as fast as the horses who got second. In a fourth race the fourth horse can run as fast as the horses who got fifth place. At the end of a fourth race the horses who have finished fifth place can run as fast as the horses who finished eleventh place. At the end of a fifth race the sixth
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