question concerning an idiom

[CharlyBonifaz]

what is meant by “trotting eighths” in the following sentence:
“Some of the horses of the third generation of this cross, the legend says, trotted eights at a two-minute gait.”
I have an understanding for trotters and their speeds, but what is meant by “trotting eighths”? Were the races performed on turf built in the form of an eight instead of a circle?

[CharlyBonifaz]

is it slang for five-eighths of a mile turf?

[Derek O’Toole]

I am not sure of the context of this excerpt, but it would appear to be referring to the standardbred horse either at the pacing or trotting gait. Standardbreds historically and at present only compete at the distance of 1 mile. The eight being referred to is 1/8th of a mile. If they were “trotting eights at a two-minute gait” they were doing 1/8th of a mile in 15 seconds. There was a time in the past that the two minute mile was the barrier and took some years to overcome. The world record was just set on October 2016 in KY paced at 1:46 flat!(13.25 second eights)

[CharlyBonifaz]

thanks a bunch

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