New Driver Ratings

[pandy]

This is a good idea. I've always believed that in many cases, the driver or jockey that wins the most races is not actually the most talented. For instance, in my opinion the best jockey in So. California is Maldonado because, on average, if you compare his win percentage to the odds of the horses he rides, or to the average speed figure, you'll find that he gets much slower horses than Bejarano, Stevens, and any of the other top riders.

http://xwebapp.ustrotting.com/absolutenm/templates/hoofbeats_blog.aspx?articleid=56553&zoneid=64

[melman]

I agree Pandy.. this comes from David Siegel who is president of Trackmaster and for whom good ideas are par for the course. For a long time IMO Corey Callahan was a great bet on a lot of his drives. He did not have the "name" factor. Still gets the most out of his horses it's just that he gets bet heavy more often. Also at the meadows there is no doubt Dave Palone is a great driver, however there are a few drivers there that get underbet I think mostly due to the "Palone factor". Tks for posting.

[Ray2000]

A very good idea

and whatever formula is finally derived for the “Public Perception Index”

I would like to see ROI as well as rank finish above/below expectation in the parameters.

Also, as a side note, I find the WEG program info on combined Dr/TR ROI useless....
Should be separated out and some minimum starts for the driver ROI stats.

[mrroyboy]

Add my voice to all the agreements. Driver stats need more than just win pct or usta ratings

[pandy]

I agree Pandy.. this comes from David Siegel who is president of Trackmaster and for whom good ideas are par for the course. For a long time IMO Corey Callahan was a great bet on a lot of his drives. He did not have the "name" factor. Still gets the most out of his horses it's just that he gets bet heavy more often. Also at the meadows there is no doubt Dave Palone is a great driver, however there are a few drivers there that get underbet I think mostly due to the "Palone factor". Tks for posting.


Agreed, Siegel is someone will has that geeky kind of mind (no offense, Dave) and can come up with good ideas, but he's also a harness driver, so he has a unique viewpoint that we don't.

[mrroyboy]

One of my favorite ways to rank drivers is their win pct with favorites both against the track norm and the other drivers.
For example favorites at Yonkers are winning at 42%. Any driver with a win pct of 38 or less would be suspect especially if most of the other drivers are higher. That driver is actually performing below par no matter how many winners etc.

[Just a Fan]

I like the way Siegel is thinking.

Siegel himself has a +10% ROI on his drives at CalX this year.

Callahan had a +9% ROI at the Meadowlands this year.

Maldonado had 5 or 6 meets in a row in So Cal where he showed a positive ROI, which is almost impossible.

[Phantombridgejumpe]

You mean their win % with favorites or overall?

What driver wins more than 35%?

[pandy]

I think he means when driving the favorite.

[mrroyboy]

Yes thank you Pandy. I meant their win pct when driving the favorite. You can get that from statsmaster thanks to trackmaster.