Beyer talks Trakus
 

You can yell at them until you are blue in the face Andy...and it won't make any difference, because nobody in a position of power is listening.

Typical. They have superior data but don't make it available except to 'industry professionals' and the stuff that is available has significant errors

Is anything ever done right in this sport?

I would like to know who makes up the industry professionals list?

Just one more group with an edge

The ONE positive I did take from the article is that Trakus is being used to determine beaten lengths at the sectional calls.

Quote:

Trakus’s chief operating officer, said the methodology was originally intended for use in sports such as hockey and football.

Hockey & football?

What kind of info can they glean from Trakus in hockey, you ask?

I can see where that would be hepful. :rolleyes:

It would be great to see Trackus become universal, and beaten lengths can be converted to objective ACTUAL times instead of subjective information.

Trakus data is great, but remember if you see a horse who ran 65 feet further than the winner did last time, there is no guarentee that horse will not be given a similar trip next out.

This is true.

Extra Distance run(ground loss) is also a factor where the value of ground loss is NOT a constant.

If you want to compare two horses from the same race who ran pretty much the same race type, and they were in similar positions and made similar moves - then by all means consider ground loss.

However differences in running style during the race in question will distort the value of ground loss in comparisons so much that without the ability to understand and apply the dynamics and race shape to an individual horse's ground loss, the factor actually becomes worthless and even harmful.

You can view the data on all track web sites, so this isn't exactly true.

You can view SOME of the data, not ALL the data.

And you can't view it easily and you can't download any of it and actually use it.

Ralph, if someone gave racing the goosed that laid the golden eggs, they would have a barbeque and then bitch about the lack of golden eggs.

I created an Excel macro to go out and get the Trakus data, but the formatting of their website made it very challenging to parse through the data. If the data is out there and available at no charge, why can these companies not provide it in an XML format for easy download and use?

Tokyo,

I am quite experienced in difficult parsing situations. PM me if you want some help.

Keeneland used to offer a db of the Trakus data that was downloadable for free. Guess they reviewed it and thought it made sense so they dropped it.:rolleyes:

The fact that they are having problems with GP 1 mile races tells me the methodology is suspect, and the fact that they knowingly post flawed data tells me The Trakus Company is also suspect

If you are a speed freak and like that type of data, trakus has a mountain of data collected, but the public is getting very little of it. You could be at a major disadvantage, if a few players get it and you don't.

For me, most of the speed/time data is of little importance.... However, I do like the idea of being able to watch my horse during a race. As long as they get the numbers in the correct order, it's okay with me.