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ENGLISH TIME TEST OBJECTIONS Difficulties Against Correct Registrations Are Many and Some Courses Short I see it is contended in the columns of a coutrni porary that on times made over one ami one half miles Prince Chimay was likely to beat Gainsborough the other day but to ndvawp such a contention with a show of reason it would be necessary to demonstrate that then Is a fnir pre ¬ sumption of such times being accurate enough to net on writes Special Commission in the London Sportsman No such presumption exists or can exist In the circumstances The Epsom Derby can be timed to n nicety but not the Derby at Newmarket A fertile source of error in discussions about fast times is provided by Ascot where the various al ¬ terations of the paddock and course have materially cut down distances even if they were correctly measured before the alterations took place Thus English two mile records have all been made over the reputed two miles at Ascot by Pradella Merry Andrew Turbine and Shogun It is a moral cer ¬ tainty that no horse ever galloped two miles in 319 as Pradella is supposed to have done The race was correctly timed and the time proves the distance to be short of two miles Three minutes thirty seconds is good time for two miles and the Melbourne Cup record for the distance is 320 That race is n handicap which lias been run every year by large fields since 1801 and on no fewer twir thirtyfive occasions the time of the winner m exceeded 330 In fact 330 was never beaten until Sheet Anchor won the Cup in 1885 In 329 Tin time test makes it as certain that the Ascot re ¬ puted distances are too short as it did that the Goodwood distances were too long If further proof were wanting it would be furnished by the r t that since the alterations of the Ascot Cup ccur English two and onehalf miles records have b vn made over the reputed distance at Ascot In point of fact Ascot distances have always been a law unto themselves The Alexandra Plate used tq be called a three mile course It is now two miles and threequarters but It differs only in the changes that have been made by cutting off inside turns It is a great pity that these things should be so and even when a course is really measured it only makes confusion worse confounded by drawing the chain around the middle of it instead of with ¬ in three or four feet of the rails That is to say when the course is a round one All the newer round courses have been wrongly measured in this singularly foolish manner foolish because jockeys always get as near the rails as they can and the measurement round the center makes the distance much longer than that actually covered coveredSOME SOME ENGLISH SHORT COURSES COURSESA A friend of mine is impressed with the idea that Not Much will win the Cambridgeshire because he made the unusually good time of 151 over the Cambridgeshire course when he won the Culord Handicap last month with 118 pounds In the saiLlle He has six pounds less in the Cambridgeshire Hacklers Prides time when carrying 122 pounds as a fouryearold was 152 and Polymelu of the same age and at the same weight took the same time when he won These were at the time records for the Cambridgeshire course There is much worth thinking about in this argument tlu uch the accuracy of time in England should not ho implicitly relied on especially when it is difficult to catch the moment of starting as on some courses at Newmarket As an American writer says Timing in England is not official Such timing as isdone is privately conducted Whether it is accurately done as with us Is a matter of guess ¬ work Then again distances In England are far from accurately stated on many of the old courses ami it will be remembered that I was the means of getting tliis proved in regard to the Goodwood Cup and stake courses The Lingfield mile is a short one to my certain knowledge If it be a mile as from Caimans time I should conclude it is not and as for timing a mile and a half on the July side at Newmarket that is guesswork indeed for the start is practically out of sight and we liave to depend on the man with the flag on tli ititch who is supposed to see when they are off Thr t fifths of a second is usually added to tin uno as taken to make up on the average for tin mains possible slowness However the Cambi iiltrisliire course is nothing like so difficult to deal with and as those who take time are careful and two or tiiret watches are generally compared we may iisiiiu that the times recorded are fairly convct it therefore follows through the time test that Not Much has obviously a good chance this year hating won over the course as a threeyearold ami with 118 pounds in one and twofifths seconds shorter time than Hacklers Pride and Polymelns took as fouryearolds with 122 pounds when they won their respective Cambridgeshire and established records The performance t f Not Much compares favorably with these more especially as he had the worst of it in respect of weights according to the age scale It Is not wise to neglect facts like these though I should take no notice of arguments based on times made over the longer Newmarket courses for the accuracy of sucli tinies is always open to serious question
