How valuable of a replay tool would a drone be? How possible would it be?

[cutchemist42]

???

[ReplayRandall]

It's already in use:

Two months ago, Royal Ascot was the first to cover it's races overhead:

The remote-controlled drone camera will provide 360 degree shots of the pageantry and pomp of the Royal Ascot crowd and cover live racing action from never-before-seen angles.

Channel 4 Racing's director Denise Large said: "We have 44 cameras to capture all the action on and off the track at the Royal Meeting.

"I’m delighted that our coverage for the first time will feature the ground breaking aerial Batcam drone - it will be a first for racing when we feature this as part of our live coverage at the royal meeting on Channel 4."

Note- The Aerial Batman Drone is capable of flying at a maximum speed of approximately 35-40mph, the same speed as the thoroughbred.

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Drones have already been used to cover various meetings around the world (as were blimps before them)

Gives a good shot of them jumping out of the gates

[v j stauffer]

Could very well have made the BC Classic decision a lot less controversial. During the inquiry and for many days to follow I disagreed with the So. Cal. stewards. Felt strongly Bayern should have been disqualified.

Weeks after when I saw the shot from the blimp. I changed my mind and now believe "as is" was the correct call.

[cutchemist42]

So are any tracks using it everyday in NA. I mean, I would absolutly love if someday, replays at NYRA featured pan, headon, and behind-overhead drone views. Have the drone over the gate and follow the horses from behind all the way around....I would love that for every race.

[whodoyoulike]

So are any tracks using it everyday in NA. I mean, I would absolutly love if someday, replays at NYRA featured pan, headon, and behind-overhead drone views. Have the drone over the gate and follow the horses from behind all the way around....I would love that for every race.

What would happen if the drone interfered with the horses or a horse noticed it flying nearby?

Some horses are pretty aware of their surroundings and then there are the ones I've bet on which don't know where they are.

[EMD4ME]

Some horses are pretty aware of their surroundings and then there are the ones I've bet on which don't know where they are.

Are you talking about the horses or the jockeys or both ? :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Stillriledup]

Could very well have made the BC Classic decision a lot less controversial. During the inquiry and for many days to follow I disagreed with the So. Cal. stewards. Felt strongly Bayern should have been disqualified.

Weeks after when I saw the shot from the blimp. I changed my mind and now believe "as is" was the correct call.

99 out of 100 'as is' is the correct call.

#paythewinners

[Cratos]

What would happen if the drone interfered with the horses or a horse noticed it flying nearby?

Some horses are pretty aware of their surroundings and then there are the ones I've bet on which don't know where they are.
I doubt if an overhead drone would be noticed by either horse or jockey.

However the benefit to the stewards and the racing fans would be enormous because an overhead panoramic view will show distinctively how the horses are moving in a plan view and the viewer will be getting both the X-distance and the Y- distance giving the viewer an accurate point of location of the horse at a moment in time.

Therefore given those points a curve can be constructed and a variety of analyses can be performed relative to the horse movement and position.

[v j stauffer]

I doubt if an overhead drone would be noticed by either horse or jockey.

However the benefit to the stewards and the racing fans would be enormous because an overhead panoramic view will show distinctively how the horses are moving in a plan view and the viewer will be getting both the X-distance and the Y- distance giving the viewer an accurate point of location of the horse at a moment in time.

Therefore given those points a curve can be constructed and a variety of analyses can be performed relative to the horse movement and position.

They would NEVER notice it. But SRU would lose again and say his horse thought it was a UFO and scared into not trying.

[whodoyoulike]

They would NEVER notice it. But SRU would lose again and say his horse thought it was a UFO and scared into not trying.

I know very little about how drones operate other than what I've seen on the news. And, they're shown operating very close to the action because they need to be controlled by human hands. You guys are giving me the impression they're flown at Blimp heights and out of the way.

I'm hoping you're both correct and I'm mistaken.

[098poi]

They would NEVER notice it. But SRU would lose again and say his horse thought it was a UFO and scared into not trying.

:ThmbUp::ThmbUp: Or he would think the drone operator was in on a fix and buzzed the losing favorite!

[Cratos]

I know very little about how drones operate other than what I've seen on the news. And, they're shown operating very close to the action because they need to be controlled by human hands. You guys are giving me the impression they're flown at Blimp heights and out of the way.

I'm hoping you're both correct and I'm mistaken.
Drones are allowed to fly in Class G air space which is 700-1200 feet above land by the FAA.

This is far enough away that there wouldn't be any disturbances to the jockey or horse.

However I would think the race monitoring height would probably be about 100 feet above the horse and jockey. What would probably drive the monitoring height would be the camera distance capabilities.

[cutchemist42]

Found a cool video showing possible heights. A lot of these angles I wouldnt want used. I would just want one thats straight behind the herd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0uw8py9qmw

[Seabiscuit@AR]

The issue with drones is eventually some of them will crash to earth just like planes do. And if one is hovering above a race you cannot guarantee the safety on those underneath the drone. Before the race enters the stretch the field will mostly be compact so the drone could probably be positioned in a safe spot. But once the field enters the stretch the field is going to be stretched out over long distances in quite a few races. So it would be hard to position the drone so that it is not above a horse and rider

And in the stretch there will be other people either side of the fence for various reasons

[Cratos]

The issue with drones is eventually some of them will crash to earth just like planes do. And if one is hovering above a race you cannot guarantee the safety on those underneath the drone. Before the race enters the stretch the field will mostly be compact so the drone could probably be positioned in a safe spot. But once the field enters the stretch the field is going to be stretched out over long distances in quite a few races. So it would be hard to position the drone so that it is not above a horse and rider

And in the stretch there will be other people either side of the fence for various reasons
You are correct, there exist the possibility of an catastrophe accident using drone technology, but I would argue that the probability is very low.

Also to get the needed views of the race, more than one drone could be used.