If you’re looking to boost your betting bank, it pays to have an approach that both pays off and pays out! Horses can of course have many strengths, and indeed weaknesses. Some tend to hang back and then push in the finishing straight, others have an endurance and will that far exceeds their rivals. I find that the most re-assuring horses to put your betting faith in though, are those that show serious pace. This pace can be displayed in anything from short five furlong affairs, right through to the big races like The Grand National.
We saw this in last years race when punters witnessed speedy 7-2 favourite Tiger Roll breeze to victory in impressive style, rewarding those that put their faith in him. There are numerous betting offers for the grand national right now, as the race nears. Maybe taking advantage of one, while relying on Tiger Rolls pace to win for a third year in a row, wouldn’t be the worst option for those considering placing a bet. Or perhaps keep your powder dry under the markets settle? Decisions, decisions!
According to Guinness World Records, the fastest horse ever, over two furlongs, was the two-year-old filly, Winning Brew, trained by Francis Vitale. In May, 2008, the daughter of Milwaukee Brew covered a quarter of a mile at Penn National in 20.57 seconds, achieving a speed of 43.97 miles per hour. Interestingly, Winning Brew raced three times, over 5½ furlongs, 7 furlongs and a mile, during her juvenile season, but failed to trouble the judge. Indeed, her best performance came when fifth of six, beaten 7¾ lengths, in the Grade One Spinaway Stakes, over 7 furlongs, at Saratoga in August, 2008.
Of course, no official horse races are run over two furlongs. In Britain, the minimum advertised distance for a horse race is five furlongs; the fastest time over that distance, according to Guinness World Records, was recorded by Stone Of Folca, trained by John Best, at Epsom Downs in June, 2012. Providing food for thought by belying odds of 50/1, and aided by the fact that the five-furlong course at Epsom is reputedly the fastest in the world, the four-year-old Kodiac gelding won the aptly-titled ‘Dash’ Handicap by half a length in a time of 53.69 seconds. In so doing, Stone Of Folca shaved just one hundredth of a second off the previous record set by Spark Chief 29 years earlier. Remarkably, in eighteen subsequent outings between his world-record breaking effort and the end of his racing career, in July, 2017, Stone Of Folca failed to win again and was placed just twice.