Question about Pace

[fjh513]

Basic question for most of you but to a rookie a different story....

On TVG,one of the announcers(Stevens?) mentioned that the Bluegrass Stakes had no pace,and therefore hurt the closers. Please explain this for me. My initial thought is that it(no pace) would help the closers because they would have more in reserve to finish.
I could also use some help understanding the difference between pace and speed..this is a tough game to learn,but I love it and know it takes time. I'm reading the books suggested by some of the members,but I'm kinda' lost on this pace /speed thing. I'm amazed at the expertise in the selections thread and I'm trying to follow and learn...hopefully to contribute soon.