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[headhawg]

Earlier this year Tom made reference to PHQS, originally and pen-n-paper system sold by a(n) (in)famous purveyor of such systems/software. I wrote an EquiSim formula based on PHQS but it really didn't show too much, not that should surprise anyone. I decided to revisit the system to see if I could make it better based on some things that I have read and also some database queries. In the spring, I programmed a version called HHQSS as a stand-alone application. After testing about 250 races I discovered that there might be something to this. I got burned out doing testing on it so I stopped working on it. Until recently...

I am attaching an early (alpha) version of the program for a couple of reasons. One, I hope that the PA community will provide feedback by doing some backtesting. The feedback should be constructive -- I don't really need to read that the program sucks. If that's what you think then don't bother posting and go pound sand. What would be great is users telling me what is showing both positive and negative results, i.e. track, race type, point gaps, datafile type (drf, jcp), etc. The second reason is that I hope by having a thread on PA I will be more likely to continue with working on and improving the program.

Here is what I have found so far. Differences of one point seem to be irrelevant, so treat those horses as the same. There starts to be a difference at two points, and obviously the bigger the gap the bigger the more likely the higher point horse will win. The system works better with older horses on dirt, so I would like to improve the turf ratings. It is not great with maiden races especially those with more than one FTS. More testing is needed with MCL races with horses that have run a few times. This is NOT a longshot program -- high point total horses will be low- to medium- priced. The most interesting thing that I have discovered is that if the favorite is NOT the top rated horse it usually doesn't win. In other words, HHQSS may work very well as a chalk eliminator program at least from the top slot. The opposite appears to also be true -- if the chalk is the top horse by at least two points it might make for a good single.

Other things to know: There is no scratch utility built in as of yet, so using the program "live" will probably not work unless you use my HDST program to create a modified data file. Scratches are important as there is "pace pressure" factor that contributes to the point total. The "Set Options" button is disabled so don't bother to click it. The output is sent to a text file named "HHQSS.txt" and should be saved to the data file folder. I recommend putting the datafiles in the same folder as HHQSS for now. The text file gets appended; that is, every time HHQSS is run the output is added to the end of the file. If you want to start fresh then just delete or rename the .txt file. You can load multiple datafiles at one time; I would use a reasonable number such as loading files from one particular date. I don't think I set a limit on the number that can be loaded, but there's a reasonable chance that something bad will happen if you load too many files (like a program crash). Also, the data files must be unzipped!

HHQSS is free to use but it is not open source and not in the public domain. If you have any doubt about using the program, then don't download and install it. There is no deadline to complete this project and no update schedule either. I will update when I can; this is definitely a WIP.

To install, just unzip the files into a folder. There really isn't an installation program and nothing is written to the Windows registry. Double-click the exe to launch. I am developing on a Win7 system so I have no idea if this works on Vista, 8.1, or Win10. Probably, but perhaps users will verify.

BTW, the aforementioned vendor is charging $200 for its version. Just sayin'.