Fractional Time Errors

[cj]

Originally Posted by Tom

Good going!

Why would you add a new rail distance and NOT make sure you're timing them correctly?

Game run by morons.

That is a question for Remington Park. The times are correct, we just don't know the exact distance. It is however much the rail at 12 feet adds around the turns.

This isn't a big deal for figure makers as it is at least consistent. It does change the ratios a little bit, for example if you add 50 feet to a mile race and 50 feet to a mile and a sixteenth race, you skew the relationship between the two slightly. But it really is a minor amount and doesn't change much for me. See below:

8 furlongs / 8.5 furlongs = 94.12%
8 furlongs, 50 feet / 8.5 furlongs, 50 feet = 94.17%

[cj]

The opening quarter for the last race at CT last night (10-26) is clearly wrong. It even makes the announcer chuckle a little bit, but it is in the chart still for now.

The 5th from 10-25 also has a bad quarter mile time, came up on the screen as 29+. This obviously didn't make the chart but the one they have in there is still wrong by quite a bit, about a second, which is an eternity in a 4.5 furlong race.

[ubercapper]

Originally Posted by cj

The opening quarter for the last race at CT last night (10-26) is clearly wrong. It even makes the announcer chuckle a little bit, but it is in the chart still for now.

The 5th from 10-25 also has a bad quarter mile time, came up on the screen as 29+. This obviously didn't make the chart but the one they have in there is still wrong by quite a bit, about a second, which is an eternity in a 4.5 furlong race.

The opening quarter mile fraction has been removed from the chart for race 9 at CT on 10/26.

[cj]

Timing malfunction for R3 at RP on 12-12 and no final time is given. 1:18.90 is very close if you are looking for the actual time.

[iamt]

Gulftstream Park 21/12:


The fractions and overall time for R5 make sense on paper, but the first quarter (and overall) are much slower than they have reported by my take.

[cj]

Originally Posted by iamt

Gulftstream Park 21/12:


The fractions and overall time for R5 make sense on paper, but the first quarter (and overall) are much slower than they have reported by my take.

I would agree, and don't have the time to look right now but suspect race 4 is mistimed as well at the same distance. The whole race 5 is too fast. Normally, when you back up from the wire by the final time the horses are barely out of the gate. This makes sense because the run up is five feet. But in this case, the horses are much farther down the track. All the fractions and the final time are too fast.

EDIT: Just checked, R4 malfunctioned and was hand timed. It is probably faster than the times in the chart but I don't have time to mess with it today.

[iamt]

R4 actually looks fine on the overall, or near enough anyway. I didn't spend any time trying to work out where the fractions for it stood.

Edit: I take that back. the previous day may have been a touch screwy as well. Looks like R4 is quicker than published, as you suggested.

[cj]

Originally Posted by iamt

R4 actually looks fine on the overall, or near enough anyway. I didn't spend any time trying to work out where the fractions for it stood.

It is timed too slow for final time in my opinion, at least a half second. I've timed a lot of mile races on dirt at GP because it is a problem distance for Trakus. I haven't checked the fractions.

This is the problem with the current system of just putting a note at the end of the charts when a race is hand timed. If you don't open the chart, you don't know it and in the PPs they look just like all the other times. I believe this is something that is in the works to be fixed so it should change in the future.

That said, tracks that use hand times for back up are ridiculous in this day and age. I can time a race from video in a few minutes within a tenth, give or take a few hundredths. Hand times rarely ever come that close.

[Jeff P]

It boggles my mind that:

Over the years how many tracks have had so much trouble timing their races accurately.

Despite the fact that CJ has posted how to generate reasonably accurate times by playing recorded track video back through video software:

How few track employees (whose job it is to time their races accurately) have even the slightest understanding how to go about doing the same thing.

You'd think, by now, with sooo many mistimed races and sooo many corrected charts --

Tracks might have taken it upon themselves to train somebody in house how to generate reasonably accurate times by playing recorded track video back through video software - and from there have that person devote 30 minutes or so a day to sanity checking that day's time related data:

Gate placement/runup/temp rail placement, fractional times, and final time, etc.

As opposed to continually relying on players for quality control.


-jp

.

[Tom]

One can only assume that basic things like telling time, reporting a run are far beyond the capabilities of most race tracks, especially GP. Why anyone would bet the track is beyond me. It is either run by morons or they just don't care about the customers. Either way, why support them?

[cj]

I doubt the people working for the various timing companies know enough about racing to recognize when there are problems other than the very obvious and even some of those go unnoticed. However, there are people that work for the timing companies that THINK they know enough about racing that they argue even the most obvious errors.

There is also virtually no oversight by the tracks employing the timing companies. How else could anyone explain Trakus still being used as the official timer anywhere given their horrible record?

[SG4]

I would suggest giving a look to GP's 6th today which was hand timed, yet was officially recorded as 0.42 seconds slower than the 8th race today. Same run-up distance and both with rails at 120ft, I tried to run the videos side by side & looked like the 6th was faster, not to mention figs coming into the races would 100% expect that.

[cj]

Originally Posted by SG4

I would suggest giving a look to GP's 6th today which was hand timed, yet was officially recorded as 0.42 seconds slower than the 8th race today. Same run-up distance and both with rails at 120ft, I tried to run the videos side by side & looked like the 6th was faster, not to mention figs coming into the races would 100% expect that.

Yeah, no way that hand time is remotely close. I just rated the races separately. I have the the 6th 10 points faster than the 8th.

[cj]

The 9th at GP on 1-16 is timed very poorly. I've alerted Equibase and they are investigating. But for now the data is in the charts and data files, ignore it if you see it. Race is at least a second slow at every call, probably more.

[outofthebox]

The first at Santa Anita....Hard to believe the 21.10 first 1/4