Races are run over a variety of different distances. In the UK flat races range from 1km to 3km, UK Steeplechases or hurdles(jumping over obstacles race) from 3.2km to 8km and US races from 1.2km to 2.4km. So you can see they vary considerably.
Most horses will have a distance which they give their best performances. Some horses will be very fast, but with not much stamina. So these horses will perform better in shorter sprint races which is usually up to the most of 1.2km. Others will not be so fast but will have more stamina, so obviously these horses will fair better over longer distances. Looking at a horses performance will help you to work out which distance is the optimum distance for that horse. If has run well over 1.6km you can be fairly sure it will also perform on 1.4km. If however the furthest a horse is raced is 1.4km and it is entering a race of 1.8km or more then you must be cautious as it may tail off at the end of a race this much longer than it's used to. Often though, if a horse has good basic speed it will be able to win over a number of different distances.
Some thing to observe that if its running on towards the end but just missing out over 1.2pm, average 1.2km results may come good over 1.4km if the horse showed late sprinting or acceleration. The same principle is vice versa, if its weakening at the end over 1.4km, Don't try anything longer than that.
It is useful to keep an eye on distances but it is not the most important factor to consider compared to others. Thisbis because most of the time trainers will only enter horses in races with a length they believe their horse can perform well.
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