Eagle Farm on 28 October suited wide runners, and two horses placed from the inside anyway

Weekend Artist placed at Eagle Farm on Wednesday from the inside half of the track. On most days that line would mean nothing. On this day it means a lot, because Horse Truth's measures say the track suited the horses that raced wide.

The result shows where a horse finished. It does not show which part of the track it used to get there, or whether that part of the track was helping or hurting. Horse Truth reads both from the race tracking files for every runner at the meeting. When most of the placings come from one side, the few that came from the other side ran against the day.

Two horses did that at Eagle Farm. Weekend Artist was one. Budda Bar was the other.

Running against the track

A track bias is rarely loud. Nobody sees it from the stands. It shows up in the pattern of where the placed horses travelled, and on Wednesday the pattern leaned wide.

So a horse that placed from the inside half did the harder job. It either had to find speed on the slower part of the track, or it was held there by the way the race was run and still got into the first three. Both readings say the same thing about the horse. It was better than the day let it look.

Horse Truth's page for each horse carries the same plain sentence. Placed from the inside half on a day that suited wide runners. It ran against the track.

Weekend Artist, the long strider

Weekend Artist is the more interesting of the two because the inside run is not the only thing its file shows.

Its stride type is long strider. Its stride was among the longest third of its field in each of its last 6 runs. Six runs in a row makes it the way this horse covers ground, from the race tracking data.

Horse Truth reads Weekend Artist as a class horse racing below its best, with its form rising. Its type is class horse, which means it beats good rivals and posts strong figures as well. Its best rated run came at 1800 metres. The read rests on 13 rated runs, which is medium evidence, a solid base for a horse page.

A long-striding horse on the inside on a day that favoured the outside is worth noting for its next start. A different track pattern could suit it a lot better.

Budda Bar beat the pattern too

Budda Bar also placed from the inside half. Its late stride adds to the picture. It held its stride late third best of the 9 runners, although in the run home its stride was noticeably shorter than in the middle of the race.

That mix is common. Most horses shorten late, because tired legs reach less ground. The useful part is the ranking. Six of the nine held their stride less well.

The Horse Truth read is a class horse racing below its best, with its form holding steady. Its type is grade specialist, a horse that wins its grade while its raw figures stay modest. It beats rivals rather than the clock. The read rests on only 3 rated runs, so it is a low-evidence read and the next few runs will tell us more.

Prochester held its stride best of all

The strongest late stride in its race belonged to Prochester. It held its stride late best of the 10 runners. In the run home its stride was about the same as in the middle of the race, which is rare at the end of a race.

It fits the rest of its file. Prochester's running profile is sustained finisher, with a top three last 400 metres in 4 of its last 6 runs.

Horse Truth reads Prochester as a grade specialist, a class horse racing below its best, with its form holding steady and its best rated run at 1600 metres. That read rests on 4 rated runs.

Ready Set Tergo, a finisher in a smaller field

Ready Set Tergo held its stride late third best of the 8 runners in its race. Like Budda Bar, its stride shortened noticeably in the run home, but five of its seven rivals held theirs less well.

Its running profile is sustained finisher as well, with a top three last 400 metres in 2 of its last 3 runs. Horse Truth reads it as a class-edge midfielder whose form is holding steady, a horse that rates fairly for its grade without a standout figure. The read rests on 3 rated runs.

What to take from Wednesday

The day at Eagle Farm leaned wide. The horses that placed from the inside, Weekend Artist and Budda Bar, did it against that lean. The horses that held their stride late, Prochester above all, showed a finish their placings may not reflect.

None of that is in the result. All of it is on each horse's free Horse Truth page, from the race tracking data, along with every run we hold for it.

Every Horse Truth selection is sealed before the race and every miss is published on the public record. The full meeting is on the Eagle Farm meeting page, and a full report on any one of these horses is a Horse Check.