Confusion as Minzaal Breaks Course Record in Sprint Cup

Confusion surrounds the time of the Sept. 3 Betfair Sprint Cup (G1)—one of the most high-profile six-furlong contests in the British racing calendar and Haydock's flagship flat race—and whether it was a record.

The BHA resorted to requesting a hand time from approved suppliers for the feature group 1, with Shadwell's Minzaal  breaking the six-furlong course record on that figure because of a failure of the timing mechanism.

Minzaal, trained by Owen Burrows and ridden by Jim Crowley, recorded a time of one minute, 8.44 seconds—0.60 of a second quicker than the Racing Post's previous record holder Princes des Sables, an eight-length winner of a class 3 fillies' handicap on good to firm in August 2019. However, the Racing Post timed Minzaal's race at one minute, 8.75 seconds.

The Racing Post notes course records for the inner and outer track, with the Sprint Cup taking place on the inner and Harry Angel 's time of one minute, 8.56 seconds in the Sandy Lane on firm ground in 2017 on the outer.

More than a third of the runners at this year's fixture were taken out, with 30 of the 34 non-runners pulled out on account of the going. The description changed to good to firm, firm in places (from good to firm) on race day morning after the forecast rain failed to materialize.

A BHA spokesperson said: "Due to a timing failure, an official time was not returned for this race.   

"As is the usual process when there is a timing failure—which happens extremely rarely—the BHA requested a hand time from approved suppliers. Through this process, the BHA has registered a time as 68.44 seconds and therefore, it can be confirmed that a course record was set."

The Sprint Cup was the only contest on the seven-race card not to be officially timed, with the Julie Camacho-trained Look Out Louis breaking the five-furlong course record in the following handicap. Barry McHugh's mount passed the post in 57.30 sec, 0.08 of a second quicker than Foxy Forever's record time in 2017.

'It is surely an embarrassing situation'

The outcome of Saturday's Sprint Cup at Haydock was most unsatisfactory. There is no doubt Minzaal was a clear-cut winner, but there is confusion surrounding the race time.

There was no official time originally due to a failure of the timing apparatus, but the BHA has stated a hand time was used from approved suppliers to provide a time of one minute, 8.44 seconds.

However, the Racing Post timed the race at one minute, 8.75 seconds, and Timeform has a time of one minute, 9.02 seconds, so it's anyone's guess.

The fact that the camera is not level with the finishing line makes hand-timing much harder and this may explain the variations, but it is surely an embarrassing situation when there are doubts surrounding the time of a prestigious group 1 sprint.

The difference between the official time and the Racing Post time is 0.31 of a second, and the difference between the official time and that of Timeform is 0.58 of a second. Clearly, they can't all be right, and it begs the question as to whether Minzaal did establish a track record or not.

—Dave Edwards, Topspeed