Documentation / Guides
Sectionals
Where GreyhoundAPI results carry a sectional time and where they do not: Great Britain, Australia and Ireland by grade, track and distance, and how to compare them.
A sectional is one split per runner: the time from the boxes to the track's first timing point.
It sits on each placed runner as sectional_s, in seconds, in results, form and the
race endpoints. Where the race was not timed it is null. A null means
no sectional was recorded, never a slow one, so leave those runners out rather than counting them
as zero.
{ "position": 1, "trap": 3, "dog_name": "Swift Ember", "run_time_s": 28.41, "sectional_s": 4.87 }
{ "position": 2, "trap": 5, "dog_name": "Kerry Lane", "run_time_s": 28.55, "sectional_s": null }Whether a race has sectionals depends on the track, the distance and the grade, not on your plan. The figures below are the share of placed runners with a sectional across racing since January 2025.
Compare like with like
The first timing point is not in the same place everywhere. A typical sectional is about 4.9 seconds in Great Britain, about 6.6 to 7.4 seconds in Australia and about 3.6 seconds in Ireland. Compare sectionals within one track and distance only. A sectional at one track is not a measure of early pace against a sectional at another.
Great Britain
Sprints and hurdles are never timed. Sprint races, graded D and run over 220 to 305 metres, are too short to have a sectional, and hurdle races (HP) have none either. Every other grade mostly has one:
| Grade | Placed runners with a sectional |
|---|---|
| A (standard distance) | 98% |
| B | 98% |
| S (stayers) | 97% |
| OR (open races) | 80% |
| IV, IT (invitations, inter-track) | 66 to 77% |
| D (sprints), HP (hurdles) | none |
Leaving sprints and hurdles aside, most tracks time 92 to 99% of runners. Oxford is the lowest, at about 75%. Star Pelaw and Suffolk Downs are close to 88%. Because sprints make up a large part of the card at some tracks, about two in three GB placed runners carry a sectional overall.
Australia
About three in four Australian placed runners carry a sectional, and the archive has them back to 2018. Coverage depends on the track:
| Tracks | Placed runners with a sectional |
|---|---|
| Most tracks in New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia | 80 to 100% |
| Victorian tracks | about 60 to 77% |
| Townsville | about 50% |
| Goulburn, Winnellie Park | 13 to 18% |
| Capalaba, Broken Hill, Muswellbrook, Potts Park, Temora, Northam 297m, Wagga Wagga 320m and 400m | none |
Coverage can differ by distance at the same track. Wagga Wagga, for example, has sectionals at 525 metres but none at 320 or 400.
Ireland
Irish sectionals start in 2025. About half of placed runners had one in 2025, and about three in four in 2026. Earlier Irish races have none. Most tracks are between 54 and 74%. Thurles Park is about 28%, and Derry has none.
Build for it
- Check for
nullbefore usingsectional_s, and never treat it as zero. - Compare a dog's sectionals at the same track and distance, using its form.
- For a race with no sectionals,
run_time_sand the finishing order are still complete.
These figures are measured from the archive and are updated as coverage changes.