Why does the pace vary in different races?

There are many factors affecting the pace of a race. Among them, the most important one is the racing style of the runners. Horses have their unique racing style and can be divided into three main categories: front-runners, back-finishers and one-paced runners. If most of the runners in a race are front-runners, the pace of the race would generally be faster. Conversely, if most of them are back-finishers, the pace would generally be slower. The early pace of a race can be affected by change of riding instructions, no clear fast leader in the race, or incidents that could happen soon after the start.

The 1st and the 2nd Sections of the Island Handicap ran at Happy Valley on 26 September 2001 were both 1650-metre Class 3 races for horses rated between 70 to 50. As there were only a few front-runners in the 1st Section, the pace of the race was slow. The time for the first 1250 metres was 1.19.5 minutes and that for the whole race was 1.42.9. As there were more front-runners in the 2nd Section, the pace of the race was much faster. The time for the first 1250 metres was 1.16.8 minutes and that for the whole race was 1.40.4. Since the pace of the 1st Section was slow, the final stages could be finished in just 23.4 seconds with Aspiration running on forwards the finish and won. In the 2nd Section, Pristine made all, setting his own pace throughout. It finished the last 400 metres in only 23.6 seconds and won by 4 1/2 lengths, showing that its performance was much better than that of the other runners.