Miff-- I only adjust figures when the pace is so slow that it affects the actual final time of the races, where the horses simply can\'t make up the lost time. In the case of a hot pace the final time is not affected for the entire field, we mark it so that everyone can draw their own conclusions about how it affected individual horses. Problem with hot paces is that they are subjective, and we don\'t always catch them-- with slow pace races they jump out at you because the final time comes up out of line.
Grass courses when dry are generally much faster than today\'s sandy dirt tracks, and the pace is usually slower,so it\'s more likely the time will be affected (you don\'t see many dirt races where the second half goes faster than the first, it happens frequently with grass races). Fortunately, grass horses are much more consistent and run in tighter ranges, making it easy to figure out the right way to do the race-- turf races with several horses that have turf histories are almost never a problem no matter the circumstances (pace, rain, no other grass races). Once you make the adjustments for weight and ground everything falls into place nicely, but only for those who use weight and ground and have a data base ground fine over the years.
In the end you do it off the horses. I have heard that Ragozin uses a formula for slow pace races, if he does he\'s nuts.
Europe features lots of very slow paces, to say nothing of funny distances with hills, and short meets where you might only see three races at a certain distance. It\'s a good thing grass horses run in tight ranges, otherwise Timeform would be screwed.
