PR Harness the record of the oval

Pacer

El Sakratore

6 charted starts at Plainridge, 1 win, best mile 1:56.1.

The Record

El Sakratore appears in the surviving Plainridge programs across the 2004 season, with 6 starts for which the official chart records a finishing position. One of those produced a win, and the horse finished in the first three on 2 occasions altogether.

The fastest mile recorded here is 1:56.1, set on Tuesday, September 14, 2004. A harness time is written in minutes, seconds and fifths, so the final digit is a fifth of a second rather than a hundredth. On a five-eighths-mile oval like Plainridge a horse turns four times in a mile, which costs ground against the bigger tracks and makes direct comparison of raw times misleading.

The winner's line in the chart gives the breeding as BIG TOWNER out of LUSH, herself by LAAG. Harness pedigrees are quoted in that order — sire, dam, then the dam's own sire — because the maternal grandsire carries much of the weight in judging a standardbred family.

The classes El Sakratore was entered in run to 4000CL, 4000CLHC, 5000CL, NW400PS. These are condition races rather than claiming events, so eligibility rested on money already won rather than on a posted purchase price.

The drivers who sat behind El Sakratore most often were Michael L Cushing (6). Driver changes matter more in harness racing than the bare numbers suggest, because the same horse can be driven for early speed or held for a late quarter depending on who holds the lines.

Every Start Held Here

DateRcFinPPTimeOddsDriverClass
Oct 19, 2004 5 8 7 - 15.20 Michael L Cushing 4000CL
Oct 12, 2004 5 1 2 1:57.3 1.50 Michael L Cushing 4000CL
Sep 28, 2004 5 7 7 1:59.4 5.10 Michael L Cushing 4000CLHC
Sep 21, 2004 9 4 9 1:56.3 9.60 Michael L Cushing 5000CL
Sep 14, 2004 5 2 4 1:56.1 2.80 Michael L Cushing 5000CL
Sep 7, 2004 8 6 8 1:56.3 27.60 Michael L Cushing NW400PS

All horses in the record

Questions about this horse

Who drove El Sakratore?

Michael L Cushing took every recorded drive — 6 starts.

Was El Sakratore a trotter or a pacer?

A pacer — every charted start is at the pace. A pacer moves its legs in lateral pairs, a trotter in diagonal pairs, and a horse is normally campaigned at one gait or the other.

Which conditions was El Sakratore entered under?

4000CL, 4000CLHC, 5000CL and NW400PS. Each code is a set of eligibility conditions rather than a grade — the class pages explain what each one admitted.

What were the odds on El Sakratore?

The shortest price in the recovered charts is 1.50 to one. Odds are the closing figures printed on the chart, so they reflect what the pool decided at the off, not a forecast.

How many starts does the record show for El Sakratore?

The record shows 6 charted starts for El Sakratore, 2004. Those fall across 6 race days. That is what the programmes and result sheets hold, not necessarily the horse's full career: starts made at other tracks are outside this record.

How did El Sakratore finish in these races?

Yes — 1 win from 6 starts, a strike rate of 16.7%. Adding 1 second and 0 thirds, El Sakratore finished in the first three on 2 occasions.

What is the best time recorded for El Sakratore?

1:56.1, on 2004-09-14. Harness times are read as minutes, seconds and fifths, so 1:56.1 is 1 minute and the rest in seconds — the final fifth is the digit after the last point.