Horse racing analysis: Timeform's fastest and slowest five-furlong tracks

Battaash was an outstanding five-furlong sprinter and, with a rating of 136, the best on Timeform’s figures since Dayjur swept all before him in 1990.

In fact, such was Battaash’s dominance that he was often racing against the clock as much as he was the horses in opposition. That was certainly true when he ran at Goodwood, a course which suited his trailblazing tactics down to the ground.

Not only did Battaash win four consecutive editions of the King George Stakes, but when recording the last of those wins in 2020 he lowered his own course record from 12 months earlier in a rapid time of 55.62 seconds.

Arguably Battaash’s most memorable performance was when winning the 2019 Nunthorpe Stakes at York (55.90s), when he lowered Dayjur’s record which had stood for 30 years.

In stark contrast to his dominance elsewhere, Battaash never seemed to be quite so effective at Ascot, a track where he won just once from five starts. He did eventually win the King’s Stand Stakes at the third attempt in 2020, but that form was still some way shy of his outstanding best.

Why was Battaash never quite the same horse at Ascot?

Well, a horse with the raw pace and power of Battaash was always going to be seen to best effect at tracks where the emphasis is firmly on speed, even more so than usual over five furlongs. It is certainly no surprise that his best two performances in Britain came at Goodwood and York, venues where Timeform’s standard times for five furlongs are notably fast.

The five-furlong track at Ascot, on the other hand, doesn’t play to the strengths of the out-and-out speedsters in quite the same way, largely due to the uphill finish.

For context, the standard time for five furlongs at Ascot is around three seconds slower than at Goodwood and around two and a half seconds slower than at York, so it stands to reason that Battaash’s aggressive style of racing often didn’t work out under those very different conditions.

The fastest five-furlong tracks in Britain

We’ve already discussed how the five-furlong tracks at Goodwood (straight and mostly downhill) and York (straight, flat and essentially fair) are very fast in nature, although they still rank only eighth and eleventh, respectively, by standard time.

It is well documented that Epsom provides the biggest test of speed in the country (and arguably the world) with a straight five-furlong course which is downhill more or less throughout. And, when Stone of Folca won the ‘Dash’ Handicap at Epsom in 2012, he set a new world record for the distance with a time of 53.69 seconds.

Brighton ranks second with a standard time which is a shade over a second slower than at Epsom. The track at Brighton is actually five furlongs and 60 yards in length, but for this course – along with others which do not race over precisely five furlongs – the standard time has been adjusted accordingly to provide a fair comparison.

The fast time at Brighton is explained by the runners taking a sharp descent before the track starts to climb again in the final furlong.

Ffos Las, Redcar and Lingfield complete the top five among the fastest five-furlong turf tracks in Britain.

However, the big difference between those tracks and the like of Goodwood is that they don’t stage any Group races, so there is no opportunity for the best sprinters in training to compete at the fastest five-furlong courses in Britain.

It begs the question of what time might Battaash have clocked if faced with the unique test provided by Epsom?

It was an idea floated by Kevin Blake in an article for attheraces.com back in August 2019, intimating that Battaash would be well capable of lowering the world record at Epsom granted a suitable race – something there isn’t as things stand – and going on the faster side of good.

Alas, the idea never came to fruition, but there are still few more exhilarating sights in British Flat racing than the ‘Dash’ Handicap as 20 runners hurtle down the anomaly that is the Epsom straight.

The slowest five-furlong tracks in Britain

At the other end of the spectrum is the five-furlong track at Beverley, the slowest in the country with a standard time around six and a half seconds slower than at Epsom. It’s not hard to see why if you’ve ever walked the five-furlong course at Beverley as there is a steadily uphill rise throughout which makes it a proper test even under normal conditions.

Pontefract has the second-slowest five-furlong track in Britain by standard time followed by Ascot and then Sandown. Again, one thing that those courses all have in common is that the runners are forced to tackle an uphill climb of some description.

Elsewhere, it might come as a surprise to find out that the standard time for Chester is relatively slow. The standard time at Chester is nearly four seconds slower than at Epsom, which places it in the bottom ten, but that can be explained by the horses having a bend to negotiate for about 60% of the five-furlong races. In terms of the type of horse needed to excel there, the emphasis is still firmly on early speed.

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