Some thoughts about wind

[Thehoarsehorseplayer]

In a previous post Jerry makes the point that running half way around a track with the wind and then running the other half against the wind will offset in regards to a horse\'s performance. While this might be good physics I\'m not sure it\'s good sport\'s physiology or psychology.
I know from having been a runner for twenty years that wind can play a lot of tricks on a person.  Not least of all it can throw off a person\'s internal clock, which is what I\'m thinking it might have done to more than a few entrants (human and equine) at the start of this year\'s Kentucky Derby.
I was once reading an article where Bill Rodger\'s, the noted marathoner, was quoted as saying he hated to run down hills. A statement so counterintuive that it gave me great pause until he explained his position.  Which was basically that he found it more difficult to maintain the metronomic pace he was wanting to keep while he was coming down hill.  It was too easy for him to think he was stronger than he was; it was too easy for him to speed up.
Well, running with the wind at your back will do that to you.  It will make you feel like you can run forever; a delusion that provides a serious gut check event when you turn the corner into the wind that was carrying your good opinion of yourself.  And I\'m talking instant overwhelming fatigue here, if like the hare you\'ve foolishly depleted your energies.
I read an article after the Derby that pointed out that not only did the speedballs run early but that many of the horses you would expect to be in the second or third tier weren\'t relaxing, were running unusualy close to the pace.  Now this could be attributed to the presence of a rabbit, the excitement of the day.  Which I\'m sure were  contributing factors.  But I\'m thinking now that it was also the  seductive, susurrus rush of the wind at their back, full of promise and glory, which was the Siren that lured many an unwary entry into the shoals of premature exhaustion and ignominious defeat.
Actually, the last sentence is bullshit.  The most dangerous thing about the wind is that you don\'t even know it\'s at your back  until your turn into it.  That\'s why it can play such tricks on athletic performance.



Post Edited (05-11-05 11:08)

[beyerguy]

Another thing regarding wind...

Horses don\'t evenly expend energy around the track in dirt races, they run faster and expend more energy earlier.  So, if the wind is in your face in the early part of the race, it will have a bigger effect than it will late in the race, at least theoretically.  

Then, there is the point of racing behind other horses and drafting.  It is huge in harness racing, it has to have at least some effect on thoroughbreds.  Even cyclists don\'t like to remain in the front without cover.

[asfufh]

Why don\'t the jockeys communicate via some kind of an electronic ear gizmo with someone with a stopwatch that can tell them how fast they are going at anytime during the race? They can then adjust their horse\'s internal pace speed to the optimum for that horse\'s running style. I really can\'t understand why jockeys continuously misjudge pace and race their horses into oblivion chasing suicide fractions or easing up against exceedingly slow paces. To me, jockeys cause the great majority of pace problems not the horses.  Asfufh
PS In the interests of keeping the handicappers fully informed, perhaps the tracks could broadcast the conversations that take place over these gizmos ;>).

[beyerguy]

By the time someone told them how fast they were going, it would be too late in all likelihood.

Not to mention a jockey might not know what fast or slow is, depends on the track, the distance of the race, and the current conditions.

Beyerguy,

>Then, there is the point of racing behind other horses and drafting. It is huge in harness racing, it has to have at least some effect on thoroughbreds.<

This is something that I\'ve heard other trip handicappers talk about from time to time. It\'s something that I pay very little attention to, but should start immediately.

Here\'s a quote from Steve Davidowitz:

\"CLOSING ARGUMENT was close to the pace and would have paid a dear price for that if not kept 'covered up' and in reserve behind a wall of horses on the final turn by jockey Cornelio Velasquez. Surged strongly in the final furlong to get a clear lead, but was unable to hold the winner in the final yards. Probably the best overall performance by any Derby horse---as the longest price on the board, no less.\"

[beyerguy]

That is interesting, I hadn\'t really heard it ever mentioned much either.

As for the radio, if I were the trainer, the only thing I\'d be telling my jockey would be, if he was leading, if you leave the rail open, I WILL kill you!

[Thehoarsehorseplayer]

Well, the scenario I described was not this year\'s Kentucky Derby since the horses ran into the wind from the start.  Big mistake by me.  But an even bigger mistake by the jockey\'s who, knowing they had to travel a mile and a quarter, challenged the wind at the beginning.
Still I think these premises still hold.  Running a half a race into the wind and half against the wind will not offest performance wise for flesh and blood with the same mathmatical rigor as it would for a car.
And two, wind can throw off one\'s inner clock.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

>Beyerguy wrote:

>That is interesting, I hadn\'t really heard >it ever mentioned much either.

As for the radio, if I were the trainer, the only thing I\'d be telling my jockey would be, if he was leading, if you leave the rail open, I WILL kill you!

LMAO


Thehoarsehorseplayer wrote:

> Well, the scenario I described was not this year\'s Kentucky
> Derby since the horses ran into the wind from the start.  Big
> mistake by me.  But an even bigger mistake by the jockey\'s who,
> knowing they had to travel a mile and a quarter, challenged the
> wind at the beginning.
> Still I think these premises still hold.  Running a half a race
> into the wind and half against the wind will not offest
> performance wise for flesh and blood with the same mathmatical
> rigor as it would for a car.
> And two, wind can throw off one\'s inner clock.

Agreed greater energy expended early leaves less for late. Same theory as inordinate pace.

[BitPlayer]

Even for a car running at a constant ground speed around an oval, the wind will not offset. If the car is driven at 30 mph (ground speed), the car\'s airspeed will drop from 30 mph to 0 mph when a 30 mph tailwind is added, and increase from 30 mph to 60 mph when a 30 mph headwind is addeed.  Because drag is a function of airspeed squared, the detriment of going from 30 to 60 is greater then the benefit of going from 30 to 0.

Hoarse: loved your comment about not knowing the wind is at your back until you turn into it.  Been there, done that.