Clearly most of this weekends focus built around the Prix Jacques le Marois and rightly so. However, we also had a total of 7 races on the PSF track and as usual I have run those race results through the ratings model.
There is nothing particularly exceptional about these races, though if there is a piece of form to follow it is surely the first of the 3-year-old handicaps on Sundays card where we saw a fast time and the highest ratings of any horses in the last 2-weeks. The close finish and end-to-end gallop would lend itself to that kind of rating being produced, but we should also remember that this was a Quinte handicap and as such you might expect such a time from higher rated horses in a full field. The most significant point that I can find to raise is regarding the going description. I have touched on this issue before and in particular to highlight the fact that the assumption that an artificial surface always rides the same is in fact a myth. However, on Saturday the PSF track was officially reported as "Lente" or Slow, yet by Sunday it had changed to standard. How much difference can those 24-hours have made? Especially with relatively little rain in the area. Neither the times or the race patterns suggest there was any change, but if I came to this form separately in the months to come I might be forgiven for assuming that the horses who ran on Saturday were at a disadvantage. I know it's minor point but this is why I use my own records to compare the going descriptions as I want to have as much accuracy as possible, with the data to back it up. The ratings for the PSF races this weekend can be found below.
