SPRINT/ROUTE/SPRINT

Play horses that ran well in sprint races, tried a route race unsuccessfully, and immediately return to a sprint distance. It takes little effort to spot runners fitting this criteria and produces more than its fair share of short priced contenders as well as longshot winners.

This angle comes up often during the current Saratoga meet because on the dirt track there are sprint races up to 7/8ths of a mile, then route races at 1 1/8th miles or farther. With no mile or 1 1/16th dirt races, many horses that cannot handle a mile-and-an-eighth will improve when cutting back to a sprint.

In a sprint race (seven furlongs or less), look for horses that last raced in a route race (usually two turns and beyond one mile). Previous to the route effort, the horse started in one or more sprints and showed some ability. Equally qualifying is a horse that runs dirt sprint, turf route, then dirt sprint again.

The trainer move is to give sprinters a stamina-building outing before returning the runner to its ideal sprint distance. Usually the route effort is at a slower pace than the prior sprint competition, so the horse is able to get conditioning while not utilizing its top speed. Often these horses will remain on or close to the lead in the route race until the stretch and then dramatically fade. Even if the horse is well beaten at the finish of the route race, the horseplayer should not be deterred. When returning to the sprint distance, a much better effort can be expected.

Certain trainers, including Todd Pletcher and Al Stall Jr, have been known to hit with this move over thirty percent of the time. A top notch sprinter in a six or seven furlong race repeatedly finds itself contesting half-mile fractions of 44 or 45 seconds. The same horse can coast in a route race, going a half in 47 or 48 seconds and may still fade. Even good sprinters will fold in the late stages of a route race because they lack the affinity for the distance, or are not conditioned to run for the duration of the route race.  

You may ask, if a sprinter is not suited to a route race, why would it be entered? Often times, trainers enter a horse into a route to see how it fares, then if unsuccessful, move it back to a more comfortable sprint distance. Sometimes, though, the entry pattern is simply part of the trainer’s larger plan to leg up a sprinter. This is a form of cross-training that trainers can use to give their sprinters a chance to exert themselves for a longer interval at a slower pace. Human weightlifters accomplish similar results through many repetitions at a lighter weight rather than only a few repetitions at the heaviest weight they can manage. Likewise, the horse can return to a sprint with a little more stamina than its competitors at the shorter distance.  

If the returning sprinter finished poorly in the prior route race, the public often weighs the recent poor finish heavily (leading to higher odds), ignoring today’s return to more favorable race conditions.  

Requirements to play Sprint/Route/Sprint:

– The horse is entered in a sprint, following a losing effort at a route, with a prior sprint race showing some ability.

– The horse contested the pace in the route race, racing within two lengths of the lead for the first half-mile or more.

– The finish position of the horse in the route race is not important.  The worse the finish, the better the potential for higher odds.

– A disqualifier is if the horse is returning to sprinting at a significantly higher class level than it has attempted in the past. For instance, a $25,000 claiming sprinter competes in a $25,000 claiming route, then attempts a $40,000 claiming sprint.

 

Be sure to check out Dean Arnold’s handicapping book, A Bettor Way, on sale now through Amazon.

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