It does not really matter so long as the scoring is consistent - which also requires the club to be on the job of noting and publishing them (which many are not). For example, Wow's Goulbourn Cup series was hampered by the total lack of sectionals. Like some others, Goulbourn publishes the leader's time (whoever that is) above the line but does not allocate times to the actual dogs. Most of the recently promoted country clubs are the same. It should be a box that has to be ticked prior to promotion.

Incidentally, Victoria knows those distances (but does not publish them) as it uses them in making predictions- in km/hr - for upcoming races. Presumably they would be available from the original track plans.

Every Vic race result is complete to that extent that it does not publish them until all info is present. NSW (or Ozchase) does not bother to check anything with the result that missing or incomplete times get through into the official career records. Then Tassie assigns the sectional to the race winner, regardless of what dog ran it. Very misleading!

The related point is that some tipsters rely on a single good sectional to rate a dog. Properly, they should use an average of its las 5 or 10 starts to do that.

Ideally, all race details should be in the control of a professional unit operating nationally - as occurs with the gallops. (Although they have some difficulties with sectionals as well - it's a GIGO problem).

Tassie has attached GPS markers to gallopers' saddle cloths which they use to work out sectionals but that has not been applied to dogs.

SA and WA are good but in QLD only SEQ tracks are complete - the regional tracks offer nothing much.

Amazing, isn't it? The greyhound world lives and dies on smart beginners but fails to provide reliable info about it.

All that is why (until I quit completely three years ago) I bet only on Vic races. The rest is all too hard. And I have many mates.