Value of time splits

It's important to know styles of running.
Whether it is from memory or time splits, it does n't matter.
It's no golden rule. I 've seen 5f sprint championship race won by outright stayer, but more often than not it's the speedy types in such races.

The other and equally important issue is what happens when a horse changes distance ?
You discount the last performence and look for when the horse ran the same distance ?
What if that takes you two years ago ?
You need a yardstick based on recent form and to do this one should know how to convert speed in one distance to anticipated speed in another distance.
You can do that without splits (or sectionals as they are also called) but perhaps the use of sectionals gives higher accuracy.

There is equipment that measures sectionals.
We have in Greece, strangely they don't have in the UK and South Africa.
Some efforts to do this with chips under the saddle also. I believe this project got stuck because you need
antennas and they generate high magnetic fields.

hibernia Wrote:

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> I think if you were going to do this you would
> have to take your own pen readings aswell
> Magi,cant rely on other parties..


Don't have the technologu or the expertise for that ..
@Rob... I actually agree with you. Computaform have been around almost 40 years and I know people who buy it and use 10% of the information. Is mind boggling.... When I ask them why bother...the answer is " I am used to the format. Been using it for years."

That is also part of the challenge david is having with Formgrids. Old Timers.... and that is the majority of punters at this time are not tech savvy, or just stick to what they know and have been doing for years.

Count me in Magi. It is an invaluable tool trust me. If such a service was offererd an astute punter would be able to clean up, especially during the first years before the masses catch on. Final times are virtually useless on turf except for 1000m and 1100 but sectional times can be dynamite if used correctly. Dr Howard Sartin devised a winning strategy that has stood the test of time for 3 decades.(using sectional times) I have given up hope of it ever being implemented locally.I have even tried to time the horses by hand myself (whith limited success

Magi Wrote:

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> hibernia Wrote:
>

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>

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> > I think if you were going to do this you would
> > have to take your own pen readings aswell
> > Magi,cant rely on other parties..
>
>
> Don't have the technologu or the expertise for
> that ..
> @Rob... I actually agree with you. Computaform
> have been around almost 40 years and I know people
> who buy it and use 10% of the information. Is mind
> boggling.... When I ask them why bother...the
> answer is " I am used to the format. Been using it
> for years."
>
> That is also part of the challenge david is having
> with Formgrids. Old Timers.... and that is the
> majority of punters at this time are not tech
> savvy, or just stick to what they know and have
> been doing for years.

And so Magi, you have just given *another* reason, right there, why horse weights might not be used by the greater betting public!

Split timing methods - is this not just a chip sewn into an number cloth, that registers on a computer once it goes between 2 beacons every 400m? Don't think there are antennae involved in any way. (he same system that they use for Comrades runners to check that they aren't cheating.

Hibernia - why would you say that he would need to do independent penetrometer readings? Do you feel that the ones we are given are not accurate?

Have you guys looked at the Trakus system from overseas? Not quite sectional timing, but looks to be a very useful innovation for reading races, and therefor interpreting past form. Could possibly be an easier system to put into place than sectional timing?

Used to read about the equibase project some years ago (the American company). They experimented with chips at Churchill Downs and they did mention antennas and the limits imposed by environmental agencies on the intensity of magnetic fields generated. I don't know if there has been any betterment or what became of it. They did go to England also for trials. What happened ?
I don't know how they do it in Greece - they are too secretive.
I remember before 1994 they had total times wire to wire only, then they started it in 1994 with finish times and in 1995 they started printing the early fraction too. It is generally accurate, not terribly but enough, in the sense that it gives you the likely pace setter.
If one wants to work with those the big snag is you can't rely on simple statistical methods like linear reggression. This will lead you up the garden path real bad. You have to work out experimental probability functions and that's more difficult.