Horse Search Function

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Are there any programs for USA racing that enable a basic Horse Search Function? What I mean is you can type in the name of any horse you like (eg Azeri, Smarty Jones, Qtpi etc etc) and see a readout of its form at any time (ie not just when it is part of an upcoming race card)?

It seems to me that in the USA there is the problem of the data monopoly. Last time I looked you could ask DRF or BRIS for the form of a single horse but it cost $5 per horse or some insane price like that.

For Australian racing I can subscribe to a read only online database that enables me to look up the form for any horse I like at any time for only a few hundred dollars per year. There are even some free online databases with horse search functions for Australian racing.

I don't think there is any similar service for USA racing but it might be possible that some of the programs where you buy the data in the form of race cards etc allow you to deposit the form into a database where some sort of horse search function might be possible. Trackmaster charts service might allow you to do this.

Does anyone use the Trackmaster charts service or any other program to create a horse search function for USA racing?

[andicap]

I believe a program called Dark Horse does something like that at least with pace and speed figures.
Keeps a huge DB on your hard drive. i think the website is www.darkhorse99.com or you can google it.

[Brian Flewwelling]

Just what info do you want to see for the horse??

i have a routine that does come up with the horses in my db which goes back to 1999. It will give the races run since first of 2003, showing limited data...

if you want to see it, email me

fleww

[Seabiscuit@AR]

I would just want basic info along the lines of Date of race, Track, Track condition, Distance, perhaps race number, post position, jockey, finish position and betting odds. Position in running data might be useful too.

Really the basic info you find on the results charts would be good enough. I don't really need pace or speed figures or Brohamer ratings etc.

At the end of the day the most important info I would want is simply the betting odds of the horse, finish position and where it ran at. I would just like to be able to look up certain horses to see how they performed after their run on Day X etc.

[Larry Hamilton]

you mean like this:


Horse DateOfRace Trk R# Pgm# Odds Fini
AZERI 20020525 HOL 8 2 0.6 1
AZERI 20020622 HOL 3 2 0.3 1
AZERI 20020811 DMR 8 3 0.1 1
AZERI 20021002 SA 8 5 0.3 1
AZERI 20021026 AP 3 4 1.8 1
AZERI 20030405 OP 8 6 0.4 1
AZERI 20030524 HOL 8 4 0.2 1
AZERI 20030621 HOL 8 5 0.3 1
AZERI 20030810 DMR 8 1 0.3 1
AZERI 20030928 SA 6 5 0.2 2
AZERI 20040403 OP 9 1 2 1
AZERI 20040501 CD 8 3 0.7 2
AZERI 20040531 BEL 9 3


I must be missing something, anyone with a db can do this trick

[Seabiscuit@AR]

Yes Larry that is right. That is exactly what I want to be able to do.

No you are not missing anything. I just want simple biographical detail on race horses in the USA. At present I don't subscribe to any programs or databases for USA racing or collect my own data. But from my look around most commercially based programs just enable you to download piles of data for each upcoming racecard full of velocity ratings, speed figures, pace ratings etc etc. But there was no obvious cheap product available which offered a horse search function. Not that I could see anyway. (Such products are easy to find for Australian racing, while the UK has the excellent racingpost site).

The best option I could see was something like Trackmaster charts where it seemed you could buy the data and put it into a database of your own making. Is this the way to go? Are there cheaper or easier ways than Trackmaster charts???

I found andicap's Dark Horse site but the website just looked a bit bare to me (as if no one was at home).

[Tom]

BRIS offers lifetime past performances for any horse.

[Buckeye]

Originally posted by Seabiscuit@AR
I found andicap's Dark Horse site but the website just looked a bit bare to me (as if no one was at home).

Badger Research
9815 Regent St #4
Los Angeles CA 90034
Voice 310-838-0738

Eric Cunningham

The cost to use Dark Horse 99 are:
Dark Horse Program -- $199
Dark Horse Upgrade -- $129
Monthly usage charge -- $89.95 per month (unlimited access)

The program strips data from the DRF Official Charts. I did actually type in selected tracks for many months back in 1996! That's a lot of work! Never went for the download subscription mostly because you really need to build the database for six months to have enough information to handicap. Think of the time span of past performane lines in ten races for each horse for a typical field. The Daily Racing Form is actually a good deal in a way, $5 and no typing! Sounds like you may find Dark Horse too expensive. I really liked the program and it could do what I believe you want, but you'd have to keep feeded it data for YEARS to get lifetime past performances on some horses, all the while - I would assume - paying $89.95 per month.

I myself now use HTR with Access. HTR is free and the data costs $4 per day ($119 per month). You get all tracks everyday and it would probably only take about a year to type in one days worth of data. :eek:

I'd rather pay the $4 :cool:

[andicap]

Eric doesn't put much work into updating his program because he'd rather go to the races than do programming.

[Buckeye]

His program got me interested in database handicapping. The original DOS version worked very reliably and I made money. The trainer jockey combination angles and the horses to watch lists were both profitable. I often had the feeling of handicapping races very differently as the prices were so high yet it predicted the results very well.