Review of Pace View
When I emailed Greg, asking if the program accepted JCapper files, he sent me a free copy, no strings attached, so I could find out. The program did take JCapper files, and they didn't do badly. Since I decided to use the program, I sent him the $35 anyway; fair is fair.
I wondered how the program would do with BRIS files, so I tested it with both. BRIS files work better, but JCapper files also work well.
Understand that this isn't a magic winning machine. It's also not a full-featured program. It focuses on recent speed and pace, with a few one-click spot plays tossed in. Those who want a fuller-featured program might try HTR, HSH, or JCapper itself. What the program does do is concentrate on its focus areas, and it does that well. It provides a different view than other programs do. In my opinion, the view is valid, while not being the final word, and it is useful if it's viewed in that regard.
The program itself accepts BRIS single files, Multicaps, and JCapper files. It allows for manual scratching. It has a proprietary power rating and can also do a full-card list of the top E1, E2, Late, and within 2.5 lengths finish. There is a lot of information in the output. There are also a handful of spot plays built in. The player can use the full-card listing buttons and create his/her spot plays from that.
As for performance, the program has its good and bad days, like any other program. While it finds a lot of short-priced horses, it also finds its fair share of longer-prices. A user who looks for plays with value (overlays) can probably make a profit. Players who use other programs may find this useful for offering another view of a race.
BRIS vs JCapper: The program was written to use BRIS files, and its ratings are probably better-balanced to the relative ratings of that file type. JCapper ratings tend to have a different balance; for example, if using the program side by side with both file types, the Late ratings generated with BRIS tend to be way different than those generated by JCapper. That said, based on my limited samples, JCapper files do occasionally find things that BRIS files don't. Where one file type has the winner and the other doesn't, JCapper file exclusive winners tend to be shorter-priced, but not every time; they do get some longer-priced winners.
CONCLUSION: The program is seriously under-priced. I've bought programs costing a lot more that did a lot less. For $35, it's hard to go wrong.
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