They blast out of the gates, hitting full speed in a couple of strides, and after a quarter-mile in 22 seconds or so, it's over. Sneeze, blink and you miss it. Quarter horse racing is all about breaking well and establishing position immediately. Oddly, that's also usually the winning formula for the 1½-mile Belmont Stakes, even though it's 1¼ miles farther and takes 2½ minutes.
