How is the chart of the race made?

[billrock]

Does someone at the track have to watch replay after replay of a race to determine where the horses were during the race, how many lengths ahead or behind, etc. How exactly is it done?

[the_fat_man]

There's a fat guy, who sits around in his underwear in sweltering conditions (like today in NYC), eating White Castle Crave Cases (the 30 packs of burgers), while he watches replays and makes the daily charts. He only gets breaks for local food and beverage runs, which he navigates on his track bike.

Burp

[speedking]

There's a fat guy, who sits around in his underwear in sweltering conditions (like today in NYC), eating White Castle Crave Cases (the 30 packs of burgers), while he watches replays and makes the daily charts. He only gets breaks for local food and beverage runs, which he navigates on his track bike.

Burp

You forgot to mention that he is usually dyslexic and often confuses the rail with the 4 path and steadied and taken up. :rolleyes:

speedking

[kenwoodallpromos]

During the races "chartcallers" hired by Equibase do their best to figure out during the points of call which horses are how far back, and makes comments. My rule of thumb is that the caller can be up to 25% as to lengths behind. I believe a second person records the information onto a computer. There are automatic timers that record the split and final times.
If you look at Equibase or Brisnet chart result during the day you will see that sometimes it takes only a few minutes to put them online.
If you are betting online on 1 track several times during a racecard, looking at the charts of the first couple of races can sometimes tell you which running styles and parts of the track are doing best.
If there is a particular jockey you know who is great at quickly assessing the
track condition, it may help find a good post position for sprints.

[Tom]

I taped a FL replay show recently. 4 races were won by open lengths.
Counting the poles between the winner's butt and the place horse's nose:

4 poles = 3 lengths in the chart
4 poles - 4 lengths
3 poles - 2 lengths
3.5 poles = 4 lengths

Hmmmmm.

[Pell Mell]

I taped a FL replay show recently. 4 races were won by open lengths.
Counting the poles between the winner's butt and the place horse's nose:

4 poles = 3 lengths in the chart
4 poles - 4 lengths
3 poles - 2 lengths
3.5 poles = 4 lengths

Hmmmmm.

I love that Tom! I barely consider beaten lengths but like to use position. I really like getting 20/1 on a horse that ran 2nd by 17.:jump:
.

[startngate]

The last time I sat with an Equibase chart caller there was only one in the booth. Have no idea if this is the current procedure since it's been a couple of years.

He called the race "live" into a tape recorder (horse numbers and lengths behind at each POC).

He then scribbled the live call onto a notepad and watched the replay (which he recorded onto video tape) several times and adjusted his chart from there.

Finally, he got the official finish order and beaten lengths from the photo finish guy.

After that, it all got keyed into a laptop, which updated the database at Equibase.

The charts were then made available to the Equibase/Bris/DRF websites.

Not sure what's happening with the Trackus information .... :confused:

[jballscalls]

I taped a FL replay show recently. 4 races were won by open lengths.
Counting the poles between the winner's butt and the place horse's nose:

4 poles = 3 lengths in the chart
4 poles - 4 lengths
3 poles - 2 lengths
3.5 poles = 4 lengths

Hmmmmm.

the chartcallers call the lengths during the race, but the official lengths for the end of the race are usually done via the teletimer, so they should be exact.

[Tom]

Yes - I should have said those were the announcer's calls, the poles, compared to the chart calls. Sorry for the confusion - they way I said it was not how I meant it. Senior moment! :p