Quote:
|
Originally Posted by alhattab
I don't play the HK races much, but it seems to me that running only 2x/week on a closed circuit would put a huge premium on actually watching the races or replays rather than using printed form. In the U.S. we necessarily rely on PPs- racing generally 4-5 days/week and frequent shipping, especially in the East, make it difficult for the player other than the pros or truly committed to see all the races. In HK there is max 20 races or so/week, and all the horses come from the same pool. I think that is also why Hoofless cites other variables like physical appearance, post, etc as most important. I don't know if there is much emphasis on time over there.
|
The announcers go over the fractions for each race, expected pace, and whether or not the final race time is faster or slower than "standard". Since the horses race at consistent distances at only two tracks and a limited number of courses, these relative times are well established - and seem to be supported by the consistent winning speed figures of the various classes. And since there is strict testing for drugs, there are very few (if any) outliers in terms of performance. They also cover the post race views, and trips that some of the horses had that affected the outcome.
Watching the races or replays carefully and making notes could be quite fruitful, though there isn't a horse watch tool like on DRF. Taking advantage of the final splits in the track's PPs is also handy, 'cause unlike the UK or Aussie racing, time does mean something....
