Quote:
Originally Posted by bobphilo
You seem to continually have missed the point that the emergence of the new technology such as TRACKUS and satellite GPS systems gives you a precise time for every single horse in every race. More and more tracks are now installing this technology.
Even using the beaten lengths method still provides accurate enough times to make speed figures arguably the single best performance rating factor. Of course results will be improved if they are used in conjunction with other qualitative factors.
Every good handicapper knows they may contain errors. the question is are they accurate enough to render their use practical. To label their accuracy a fallacy because they are not perfect is incorrect. The only thing you are showing is that to think them perfect is a fallacy. But no sane handicapper does that.
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No Bob, you’ve actually missed my point and the underlying purpose of posting my feelings about this
apparent flaw in establishing
superior speed figures. If you noticed my 2nd opening paragraph, I mentioned that I had just discovered some old notes regarding my speed handicapping from many years ago (I’m talking about 35/40 years ago!). That’s when it dawned on me to even raise this topic.
I guess you also like putting words in people’s mouths, because I
NEVER even uttered the word
PERFECT. I simply stated that there was a
fallacy in the typical method of using a snapshot at each call to determine the actual time that each trailing horse would cross the SAME point of call based on observed beaten lengths and the average velocity of the leading horse.
If TRACKUS and GPS on every horse is able to correlate that information with each point of call and if that is completely public domain that would certainly serve its purpose in the handicapping world.
Just a word of caution: If the Hong Kong Jockey Club states (and issued a disclaimer) that their 3rd party TRACKUS system in use is not totally accurate due to the presence of a multitude of cell phones in the crowd, then I wouldn’t be so high on this technology solving the problem. If I'm not mistaken we use cell phones here in the States as well, but for some strange reason tracks here have not disclosed any interference issues.
