Simulcast graphics

[46zilzal]

Our simulcast television director just returned from a seminar regarding what fans would like to see presented on their screens that they are not receiving now.

I told him of some of my ideas (like Northlands has "running" exacta possibilities while the horses are running, changing with the relative positions) but he was interested in other ideas which he then could suggest to help fans know more about the race from paddock to payouts.

I thought another good one would be posting the ratio of monies bet in the win, place and show pools to find imbalances to exploit since the usual ratio is 6,3,1 (W,P,S respectively) and would enlighten people to bridge jumpers.

I told him I would throw out the question here to see what others might want to add and I can report back from an experienced fan base.

[Tom]

During the race, nothing but the horses. The "numbers" line is usually wrong or late anyway. Just the horses. ( except the chicklets were they have them)

POST PARADES! POST PARADES! POST PARADES!
and,,,,,,NOT the lead pony side either!:mad:

[46zilzal]

During the race, nothing but the horses. The "numbers" line is usually wrong or late anyway. Just the horses. ( except the chicklets were they have them)

POST PARADES! POST PARADES! POST PARADES!
and,,,,,,NOT the lead pony side either
I agree with the cameras being on the wrong side, but there is no facility to show the other side as all cameras are mounted in the grandstand except the gate and paddock mobile ones.

[rufus999]

A camera in the paddock or walking ring with some good closeups. Everything else is pretty elementary. Perhaps adding 3/4 angle shots from the gate and head on shots of the backstretch run. Thats it.

rufus

[DJofSD]

My list would go on and on.

When I'm at the OTB and structuring my bet, it never fails the information I'm looking for is either presented sporatically or too quickly. For example, I like to see the probable pays for the serial exotics when I have a wager planned for the up coming race. I like to see the relative order of my selection(s). If I'm not paying attention, I miss it.

When on track, I'll make an effort to see the "first flash" of the tote board to see what the early birds including the barn is betting. It's never really been clear to me that when I see the display of the win odds at the OTB for the first time in a betting period for an upcoming race, if it really is the first flash or just what the pools happen to be when the broadcast producer decides to have that screen shown.

When there are scratches in the upcoming race, the exacta probable pays should skip over those combinations -- don't give me a display with no information on it. That's a waste of time.

I'd like to see a different angle for the post parade too. The view of the out rider and the pony is nice but not really what I want to see.

When the track feed has a view of the track with the border area showing the odds, minutes to post, race number, etc., don't show me an image within an image that has duplicate display of the odds, ect. What usually ends up happening is the horse and jockey fill just little tiny fraction of the TV screen. Might as well watch it on a computer feed at home.

And sometimes it would be nice to have a nice letter code for the track somewhere on the feed from each track. The OTB I frequent will switch feeds on a subset of TVs and it is not always easy to figure out on this TV, right now, which track is being shown. The OTB is doing the best they can to satisfy all the customers, and so, some of the smaller, less bet venues don't warrent a full-time display but will have the race shown then the subset of TVs will be switched to the other track.

[46zilzal]

A camera in the paddock or walking ring with some good closeups. Everything else is pretty elementary. Perhaps adding 3/4 angle shots from the gate and head on shots of the backstretch run. Thats it.

rufus
Those are all available NOW, but it takes the director to show them.

[rufus999]

Those are all available NOW, but it takes the director to show them.

Yeah, I guess they are. I don't leave any feed on long enough to notice. At most tracks the camera shots I mentioned usually are shown in replays or because of steward inquiries. To be honest, compared to the way things were 20-30 years ago, I'm thankful for any feed I get.:)

rufus

[asH]

clear view of the fractions (in hundredths) as the race is running like TB or TP. Aqu still hasnt been able to do this consistently.

[price]

At the end of a race I like what Hawthorne does with showing the pool totals.

Before the race I would like to see "trifecta runner totals" as part of the odds/payoff/probable rotation ....this gives the raw dollar amount of each runner in the 1st position.

[cj]

Most people want accurate changes. Late scratches, off the turf, jockey changes, etc. During the race I don't care what they put up to be honest. The less the better.

[asH]

fractions tell the story of the race.

[lilmegahertz]

I want more paddock and a post parade that show the runner not a lead pony. I also like split screens to see who is coming up from behind or the run that a last position did to get up toward the lead.

[Marshall Bennett]

Get rid of the stupid split screen . Its fine if your viewing on a 50 inch screen ,
otherwise the horses just look like ants crawling around . :cool:

[cnollfan]

I like the Keeneland/Del Mar chicklets, but hate the Woodbine chicklets -- take up too much space on the screen and make me dizzy to boot, and then they reverse positions coming out of the turn so that what was last is now first -- ay caramba.

What surface are the horses running on? Yesterday at Tampa they correctly showed "off" turf for one of the early races so I assumed the stake was off the turf too -- wrong! Meanwhile, Santa Anita did the opposite. The route races were on the turf so the graphics for the first race, 6 1/2 down the hill, said turf "good" -- wrong! It wasn't on the turf. They can show "turf good -- 1 off". It's not rocket science.

Hate hate hate horses running for purse money only not being designated as such on the odds screen. It wouldn't be that hard to put "PMO" by the odds of a remaining entry if he is running for purse money only. No odds whatsoever imply scratch, which could lead to a wildly different pace scenario. I have complained about this before.

Like to see WPS breakdown a few minutes before post time, with enough time left to see if there is a bridge jumper to show and make the appropriate bets against.

Agree wholeheartedly when watching the exacta prices spin that they need to eliminate the scratched horses. Spending 15 seconds looking at "SCR" on the entire exotic screen is a waste of time. Hate it when the possible exactas get "stuck" on one number and then gloss over another, or when they get 2/3 through the field and then cut to something else and never get to the last numbers at all.

Not too slow on the speed of the crawl that shows upcoming changes. Some tracks give you o n e l e t t e r a t a t i m e -- frustrating.

Like to see a good shot of the horses in the post parade. Don't really care about the horse's record at that point, don't clutter it up. But I do like the odds remaining down the left-hand side throughout the post parade.

Consistency in showing the will-pays in doubles, pick 3s, pick 4s, pick 6, etc. Oaklawn didn't show the will-pay for the 7th race pick 3 at all on the national feed today -- I was alive and wanted to know what was at stake. Also, it's nice when they put the denomination of the payoff on the screen. Hard to keep straight which tracks post $1 possibles and which tracks post $2 possibles, and when all they put on the will-pays is "$264.20" it's an added hassle to try to decipher.

Hate the flashing "3 minutes to post" at Charles Town. Don't mind knowing there are three minutes left, but you can accomplish that without taking the odds down.

Love two replays of the previous race -- one pan, one head-on.

I was only at Sportsman's Park once, many moons ago, but they had an exotics graphic I really liked -- they listed the lowest paying exacta combinations in order and then the highest-paying combos. Very cool.

Like the slo-mo replays of horses coming to the wire in tight photos.

[exiles]

During the race horses and #s Before the race W-P-S POOLS
at least twice in the last 5 minnutes, Will Pays for DD -P3 -P4,
Paddock, and horses warming up.

[JohnGalt1]

Some tracks post shoe info--very important if track is off.

[NY BRED]

I see no reason why shoe information can't be divuldged in the
overnight info, as weight, rider and medication info is stated(that is,
of course lasix):bang:










































'

[Robert Fischer]

win place show pools several times - not once with 5 minutes to go.

use time and screen space wisely! - The other day, I am finally getting a glimpse of the mystery first-time-starter warming up, even unobstructed by the pony:cool: , but they cut the whole screen away to show a very important CHANGES graphic , that says "NO CHANGES" :lol:

[skate]

I agree with the cameras being on the wrong side, but there is no facility to show the other side as all cameras are mounted in the grandstand except the gate and paddock mobile ones.

Put the horse on the other side

[46zilzal]

Put the horse on the other side
You approach a horse from their right and see what happens to you.

[skate]

Show the whole field thru the finish, not just the first or second place. And then the camera keeps showing the first and second place, when you really need the third or fourth place finish.


Also, some tracks do this, show the complete order of finish.

[skate]

You approach a horse from their right and see what happens to you.

i figure youd be back.

some horses work well this way.

[46zilzal]

Show the whole field thru the finish, not just the first or second place. And then the camera keeps showing the first and second place, when you really need the third or fourth place finish.



Our camera (lower pan) is instructed to hold at the finish line and let the field pass that point.

[alhattab]

-show all scratches for one race by number on the crawl line. We don't need to see the horse's name anymore.

-with about 3 minutes to post show the m/l, low, high and current odds. Monmouth does this and it helps to see the money flow if you missed the early wagering

-no split screen
-horse closeups: paddock, walking ring, post parade, warm ups

[CyberBet]

Pulled from the NTRA Simulcast Procedures Manual (available here (http://www.tra-online.com/manual/index.html))

POLICY ADVOCATED BY NTRA SIMULCAST TASK FORCE
VIDEO SEQUENCE

Simulcast patrons have asked for consistency between racetracks with regard to the information that
is delivered via the closed circuit television signal. For example, race changes should be displayed at
a specific number of minutes to post at all tracks, so patrons can plan their viewing habits so as not to
miss this key piece of information.

This schedule (based on a 24-minute cycle between races) has been developed to allow flexibility for
the tracks to set minutes to post between races and to supplement wagering information with other elements such as advertising, replay, etc.
For the purposes of this schedule, Odds Cycle is defined and WPS and exacta probables; Full Odds
Cycle is defined as Odds Cycle information, plus Daily Double and Pick X probables when necessary.

Note: It is recommended that once the horses step onto the racetrack for the post parade, the
horses should appear on closed-circuit feeds continuously through the running of the race.

MIN TO POST VIDEO DURATION
18 Full Odds Cycle 2 min
15 Changes 30-45 sec
11 Odds Cycle 1 min
10 Race Cond/Shoes 30 sec
8 Odds Cycle 2 min
3 Full Odds Cycle 2.5 min


While this is not a mandate it is generally what most tracks use. Tracks that have longer in between post times may add an extra cycle, usually pick probables.

[Kelso]

POLICY ADVOCATED BY NTRA SIMULCAST TASK FORCE VIDEO SEQUENCE

10 Race Cond/Shoes 30 sec


I don't know how to use shoe information, but 30 seconds doesn't seem like enough time to copy the info for a decent sized field. Is it?

[CyberBet]

Probably not Kelso.
And to be honest with you I very rarely remember seeing a panel for shoes anymore. Usually that is in the crawl with changes now if at all. I used to see over 300 races a day while working for a tote company but alas I no longer work there so I don't watch near the amount of racing I once did.

[JohnGalt1]

I don't know how to use shoe information, but 30 seconds doesn't seem like enough time to copy the info for a decent sized field. Is it?

I certainly want to know if a horse wears bar shoes, and mud calks on a muddy track.

Anybody remember the name of the turf mile favorite in the cup two years ago that finished second despite wearing bar shoes?

[cnollfan]

I certainly want to know if a horse wears bar shoes, and mud calks on a muddy track.

Anybody remember the name of the turf mile favorite in the cup two years ago that finished second despite wearing bar shoes?

Leroidesanimaux.

[BlueShoe]

Little Hastings Park does something that other tracks might copy.When the leader is on its way to an obvious win they will shrink and split the video and show the other finishes in detail.This helps greatly in calling the exacta,tri,and super order of finish.Many track feeds focus only on the winner as it crosses the finish line and then a blurry inage as to the other placings.If you are not sure if you have hit your exotic bet this leads to a few anxious moments until the results are posted.

[JohnGalt1]

Leroidesanimaux.

Thanks.

I put my bets in at the track on Friday. I found out about the bar shoes Saturday while watching at home.

I don't remember now how I played him, but whatever I did with him, I lost.