One more note...
The last major 'headline grabbing' speed figure controversy at Churchill Downs involved the 2012 Kentucky Jockey Club. Pay attention to Ken McPeek's comments in the link:
http://www.drf.com/news/churchill-do...ey-club-stakes
Here are the subsequent past performances for the top 11 finishers of this race, through June of their 3-year-old season.
As you can see...
* The top 5 finishers of this race were a combined 0-for-22 in subsequent starts through the first half of the following year.
* The top 11 finishers of this race were a combined 1-for-37 in subsequent starts over that period ... and the lone win came on a synthetic surface by Java's War in the Blue Grass. His odds were just 4/1.
I am sure there's some merit to what Kenny McPeek said...and fudging the number upward from a 76 might have been the prudent thing to do. However, the figure was slow and the figure does matter.