An introduction to Lengths Gained Jumping

The first RaceiQ metric we are introducing is the Lengths Gained Jumping model. With this tool we can determine how well a horse has jumped throughout a race compared with its rivals and therefore if it had an effect on the outcome of the race. Through this we hope to make it easier to identify where a horse has either jumped well or made a mistake and whether that has affected the result.

This is achieved by assessing how a horse performs over a jump, which we have defined, in consultation with Ruby Walsh, as 30 metres before and after an obstacle.

We can then analyse the runners by using speed related metrics that calculate the number of lengths gained (or lost) at each jump by each horse vs the field. By combining details such as the speed before and after the jump, the time spent jumping and race pace, we can produce a detailed overview of each runner’s relative jumping performance.

Take last year’s Unibet Champion Hurdle for our first example:

We’re sure that no one needs to be reminded how good Constitution Hill is, but this metric demonstrates how flawless his performance was in last year’s Champion Hurdle. He took lengths out of the field at every single hurdle, finishing with a total cumulative length gain across the race of 7.06 lengths.

In behind you can also see the moment when the pace lifts three out (Jump 6) and starts putting some of the runners under pressure. Jason the Militant makes a bad mistake at this point losing 1.66 lengths, with Not So Sleepy and I Like To Move It unable to quicken with the others. At the opposite end, Constitution Hill and State Man assert their dominance, quickening away from the field and producing excellent jumps from this point.

Let's also look back at last season's Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Everyone probably remembers Galopin De Champs cruising upsides the field around the home turn, flying over the last two fences and making a very high class field look particularly average. That, however, doesn’t tell the full picture of his race. Through the Lengths Gained Jumping figure, we can see that it actually took 12 jumps for him to find his jumping rhythm. For the first part of the race he jumped very big and slow, however at the end of the race when it really mattered, his jumping was excellent, bar the mistake he made three out.

Bravemansgame who was second, on the other hand, jumped very consistently throughout the race. He gained a total of 6.42 lengths on the field compared with Galopin De Champs who lost 2.63 lengths in total on the field - a 9.05 lengths difference between the two. In this case jumping didn’t have a direct impact on the result, however it opens up another narrative within the race that we may not have noticed at first glance.

Sometimes it may not be as obvious from the Lengths Gained Jumping model why a mistake has cost a horse the race, so we can use some of the other metrics within it instead. For this example we will use the ‘Speed Recovery Time’ of Bravemansgame vs Gentlemansgame in this season's Charlie Hall Chase.

At the last fence, Bravemansgame made a mistake that seemed to lose him the race. However, using our Lengths Gained Jumping model it only cost him 0.85 lengths compared to the 1.75 lengths he was beaten. Here we can look to the Speed Recovery Time to get a better picture of what happened. This tells us he took 1.4 seconds longer to recover his speed than Gentlemansgame, so even though it initially didn’t cost him the race, the loss of momentum afterwards definitely did.