"Stale" workout ratings

[MVMcKee]

Ken,

When we were at Emerald a few weeks ago, I heard you refer to a few horses workout ratings as "stale".
While I have a general idea what you were referring to, could you elaborate a bit?

Thanks,

Michael

[km]

mckee

If the horses last recorded workout took place more than 20 days ago and the horse has had at least one race since, the Wk rating might be 'stale'.

The PGM screen has ( ' ) to mark Wk ratings that have at least one workout since the last start. The KM screen has the DW (days since worked) and the # column that lists the number of workouts since the last start. These are helpful in determining if the workout pattern might be diluted due to time or racing.

However, i don't have statistical evidence that the Wk rating suffers due to a "stale" pattern. And there are rare horses that show no works for the 9 - 20 days and no races. Probably a case of a missing a work by the clockers. Horses that have not worked in at least 20 days that have a high Wk number are the same problem as a horse with a strong speed fig earned more than 6 months ago. It's a guess as to whether they will run back to it.

Lots of permutations of the Wk / Lay gaps combined with races that need further study with the Wk rating.