Overview
Wind and weather can change the demands of a race, but the relationship is rarely simple. Wind direction relative to the course, wind strength, distance, running position and the track condition may all interact. A wind observation alone does not prove that it caused a result.
Track condition should be assessed at the race level where available. If a meeting starts on Soft ground and later races are run on Heavy ground, each race should be grouped using its recorded condition, not a single meeting-wide label. For wind research, compare similar races and check whether weather measurements are sufficiently complete and comparable.