Rev it up: sprinter able to maintain maximum tempo can shine at Beverley

Bare measures of stride length and frequency, which correlate with ability and stamina respectively, will not tell us too much about established sprinters like those in Saturday's William Hill Beverley Bullet (3.15).

A five-furlong horse of Listed standard should be able to turn over high 'revs', typically more than 2.50 strides/second at their peak. Stride length, while useful for pinning down ability, would not normally override the evidence of form from 20 or more races, which the vast majority of the ten declared on Saturday have behind them.

Beverley's five-furlong course is uphill: a bit of rough work with Google Maps suggests a rise of 25-30m from start to finish. If you have ever tried to ride a bike uphill in its highest gear, you will appreciate that shortening gear length in order to turn the cranks faster is usually preferable. Tracking data duly shows that strides tend to be longer at downhill tracks and shorter going uphill.

A high cadence, and the ability to maintain it for as long as possible, should help prevent a horse from hitting the wall at the end of a stiff sprint.

Tarboosh stands out in the field on pure cadence, both on average (2.48) and maximum (2.71) strides per second. His record at Beverley is just okay (1-3), but he has run well at other tracks with uphill finishes like Hamilton (1-1), Carlisle (1-1) and Newmarket (1-2, the defeat in a Group 3). If there is any let-up in the pace he is well-equipped once the final thrust begins.

Copper Knight is the one whose data really strikes. His stride frequency is relatively high for a sprinter, but his real skill lies in keeping the revs up. When he was second at Newcastle in June off a mark of 105, he maintained his peak cadence for 29 seconds, effectively half the race. He did not finish slowly, either, showing he can run efficiently at a high cadence. If his natural enthusiasm can be kept in check early on, he should be able to keep going up the Beverley hill.

All data courtesy of Total Performance Data, whose tracking covers more than a dozen courses in the UK and North America