Why are horse races timed in fifths of seconds?

Question

Why are horse races timed in fifths of seconds?

Answer 1

Not all tracks time races this way Here is a link to support my claim

Answer 2

When Thoroughbred handicappers look at past performances, they see a horse's fractional and final times listed in fifths of a second. Quarter Horse races are timed in hundredths of a second. The educated Thoroughbred handicapper knows that one length corresponds to one-fifth of a second. Thus, if a horse wins a 1-1/16 mile race by one length in 1:42-4/5, then the handicapper knows that the runner-up was timed in 1:43. And, if a horse leads by two lengths after an opening quarter-mile is clocked in :21-4/5, the rival running in second gets a :22-1/5 mark.

See link for more:

http://racing.aqha.com/racing/dyn_conten...

Answer 3

way back  when, the stopwatches they used to time races and workouts  counted 1/5 of a second incriments.... now days the official times are measured to the 1/100  of a second, but because these timings  werent used in the past, for the purpose of track records and such 1/5 s  are still used...

also   if a horse runs  5f  in 1:00.19   it is considered to be 1:00 flat.... the timer has to tick past :20 :40 :60 or :80  for it to be considered a fifth, anything past a fifth refers back to the lowest fifth  ...i.e   .64 is three fifths   and .79  is three fifths

Answer 4

Timing in fifths is now something that they used to do ". . . .back in the day . . . ".  The reasoning was a fifth of a second equaled one ''length''.