The Finish Line how does it work?

[ZippyChippy423]

Supposedly there is some wire at the finish line. When a horse hits that wire it automatically records the official time of the race. If there is that much precision on recording the winning time why is it so hard to decide a photo finish ? The wire and the technology behind it should be able to instantly tell you which horse finished first or even a dead heat especially if it knows what the final time is.

[cj]

Everything you could want to know here:

https://www.velonews.com/2016/07/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq-how-a-photo-finish-camera-works_415180

[ZippyChippy423]

Everything you could want to know here:

https://www.velonews.com/2016/07/bikes-and-tech/technical-faq-how-a-photo-finish-camera-works_415180

Thanks for article but it never explains the corrolation between the offical time and finish line photos.

[elhelmete]

Thanks for article but it never explains the corrolation between the offical time and finish line photos.

This should answer everything:

www.google.com

[ZippyChippy423]

This should answer everything:

www.google.com

Ironically there is nothing about it on google. Some things on Bing but usuallly PA is the best resource. I guess maybe thats why they have forums here.

[wisconsin]

Ironically there is nothing about it on google. Some things on Bing but usuallly PA is the best resource. I guess maybe thats why they have forums here.



The finish line for a horse race is the mirror. That is where the photo finish reverse angle picture comes from.

Not a post or wire (Tampa was last I know with an actual wire) which is not accurate.

It's the mirror, sometimes before, even with, or past the finish pole (or red fencing in lieu of a marker).

[wisconsin]

Thanks for article but it never explains the corrolation between the offical time and finish line photos.


The timer stops when the electric eye triggers the photo.

[castaway01]

Ironically there is nothing about it on google. Some things on Bing but usuallly PA is the best resource. I guess maybe thats why they have forums here.

If you do a Google search you get 77 million results, so you're a little bit off there. Some of them are off topic but if you look down through the list some pertain to horse racing finishes.

Do a search on "photo finish" or "finish line" just on this site and you get 11 pages of threads where the topic of how the camera works and why it can be deceptive are debated in great detail.

[ZippyChippy423]

If you do a Google search you get 77 million results, so you're a little bit off there. Some of them are off topic but if you look down through the list some pertain to horse racing finishes.

Do a search on "photo finish" or "finish line" just on this site and you get 11 pages of threads where the topic of how the camera works and why it can be deceptive are debated in great detail.

The information regarding the corrolation between the final race time/ fractions and the winning horse is not to be found. Like i said if a track can post immeaditate official times then they already know who won the race.

[elhelmete]

The information regarding the corrolation between the final race time/ fractions and the winning horse is not to be found. Like i said if a track can post immeaditate official times then they already know who won the race.

Wrong.

[ZippyChippy423]

Wrong.

What’s wrong ? What exactly stops the clock with the final time? Some say it is the mirror at the finish line others say different. In any case the horse must trigger something that produces a final time at the finish line. My point is that whatever that trigger is automatically knows what horse finished in any given order. You can’t have a final time that quick without an object making that time.

[elhelmete]

What’s wrong ? What exactly stops the clock with the final time? Some say it is the mirror at the finish line others say different. In any case the horse must trigger something that produces a final time at the finish line. My point is that whatever that trigger is automatically knows what horse finished in any given order. You can’t have a final time that quick without an object making that time.

I weep for this game.

[MooseDog]

What’s wrong ? What exactly stops the clock with the final time? Some say it is the mirror at the finish line others say different. In any case the horse must trigger something that produces a final time at the finish line. My point is that whatever that trigger is automatically knows what horse finished in any given order. You can’t have a final time that quick without an object making that time.

At tracks using a teletimer system, the final eye is usually located right next to the mirror. Timing stops when the lead horse passes the eye.

Tracks using the GPS system, I believe the finish is a fixed GPS point, likely correlating wherever the track may have already had a mirror or timing eye. Timing stops at that point.

Those who hand time races generally just use the poles, which may or may not be in line with the mirror/timing eyes but are generally within a very short distance (a foot or two). Obviously timing stops when they hit the watch.

Clear as mud?

The idea that timing races in hundredths makes everything more accurate is folly.

[therussmeister]

What’s wrong ? What exactly stops the clock with the final time? Some say it is the mirror at the finish line others say different. In any case the horse must trigger something that produces a final time at the finish line. My point is that whatever that trigger is automatically knows what horse finished in any given order. You can’t have a final time that quick without an object making that time.

The timer knows something crossed the finish line but does not know which horse did or for that matter does not even know if it is a horse. A bird could trigger the timer.

[ultracapper]

I weep for this game.

No kidding.

[ultracapper]

The timer knows something crossed the finish line but does not know which horse did or for that matter does not even know if it is a horse. A bird could trigger the timer.

We weep because that actually had to be explained.

[cj]

I think there is some confusion here. The official timing and the timing from the photo finish company are two different things. There is one track that I am aware of that uses the photo time at the wire for official and that is Kentucky Downs. Nobody is using this to record fractions as that isn't available anywhere. I can't imagine any track has a photo system set up at every possible place where a fraction may be recorded.