For the past several months, I've been (quietly) working on something new called JCapper TripNotes.
It's an interface that provides a way for the JCapper user to record notes about anything related to a single running line for a horse - and have what the user recorded for that running line show up in JCapper past performances.
Here's a recent example:
http://www.jcapper.com/messageboard/...04282011r2.jpg
The above screenshot (please excuse my crude attempt to draw a circle around my own trip note with a red pen) shows my past performances for KEE 4-28-2011 R2 horse #7.
The interface took what I recorded on 3-24-2011 after seeing the horse's race and inserted it into my past performance report.
Specifically, the interface:
1. Replaced the Equibase chart caller's comment with MY trip note.
2. Adjusted the horse's speed fig for that running line using MY assessment that the trip cost the horse 3 lengths.
Note: The 9 pt adjustment to the speed fig for that running line is based on a points per beaten length table provided by Ron Tiller at HDW.
Note: The user has the option to:
a. Have the interface display the trip note only.
b. Have the interface adjust the speed fig for that running line (visual appearance only.)
c. Have the interface adjust the speed fig for that running line and use the adjusted fig (instead of the fig everybody else sees) during number crunching to generate JCapper factors for that horse.
The interface is currently in beta. There's still a few more things that need to be added, but I hope to release it as a program update to all versions of JCapper soon.
Back to the question posed by the OP. A trip note need not be limited to something that happened during the running of the race. Many of my own notes have been based on things I noticed prior to the running of the race such as dull coat, lack of muscling, fractious at gate, etc.
I'm not personally knowledgeable enough to discern different pieces of equipment (bits, bridle, blinker cup shapes etc.) used.
However, there's no reason the interface couldn't be used effectively for that in the right hands.
-jp
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