Introducing HRN's new Track Trends Tool (free)

In an outdoor sport, it is a fact of life that racing surfaces will change over time because of the weather. But often tracks have specific tendencies over time. Whether because of the track configuration, the surface or how the jockeys ride certain courses, many tracks have distinct profiles.

Finding and understanding the winning profiles at each track surface and distance combination is a key to understanding and picking winners. For this reason, Horse Racing Nation built the Track Trends Tool – which is free for everyone to research where the winners are coming from! 

Here's a screenshot of the Track Trends Tool below. You can change any of the settings – track, dates, surfaces, distances and more. The tool looks at the post positions and first point of call in the running line to note how close each runner is near the lead. 

Belmont Park 

With a 1 1/2-mile dirt course, Belmont is the largest track in the country and sure to have distinct profiles. Given that the Belmont Stakes was held just over a week ago, here are a couple of profiles that have developed since Belmont day.  

With only 11 races, this is a recent profile, but note that 64 percent of winners have been on or near the lead at the first call. Additionally, 64 percent of those winners came from posts 1-3. 

Switching to turf sprints, the trend that pops out is that 71 percent of winners since Belmont have come from posts 1-3. Admittedly, seven races is not a lot of data, but the fact that 5 of 7 winners in nine-horse fields have come from the inside three posts is definitely something to watch. 

Santa Anita

With Santa Anita hosting a mandatory payoff Pick 6 for closing day, many players who might not play Santa Anita as often will focus their handicapping there. So let's take a look at some of the trends on the West Coast. 

Going back nearly a month, we can see that early speed dominates dirt sprints, or the inside posts stalking the lead. 

Looking at dirt routes, we see a similar pattern where speed and inside posts are important. It is important to note that the average field size here is only 5.67 horses, so in small fields an early pace advantage can be even more significant. 

Looking at Santa Anita's unique downhill turf course, we see an interesting profile. Although early speed is an advantage, stalking the pace is not. So horses probably either want to be near the lead or closing from behind.