What could improve the experience?

[Parkview_Pirate]

- +1 on the horses' weights
- info on vet treating the horse
- mandatory info on ailments for horses that have a six month or longer break

[Nitro]

Originally Posted by Racetrack Playa

How About GoPro Cameras on each jock, pre and post race interviews.
also
Ending or changing the claiming game, and WE Need More Transparency in Racing, which leads me to believe a total Reorganization of racing. The HONG KONG model would Please Me , very intrigued by ShaTin and Happy Valley.

Originally Posted by Parkview_Pirate

- +1 on the horses' weights
- info on vet treating the horse
- mandatory info on ailments for horses that have a six month or longer break

Hey there Parkview! At least RTPlaya is someone else who recognizes the BEST model for quality and integrity for this game. Everything that's been mentioned here and more is offered by the HK Jockey Club. Playing there is such a refreshing change from what the norm has been in the States. My only issue is the time difference.

[cj]

Here is one that could help...how about not having Walk of Fame ceremonies during the middle of a race card. I know I'm probably coming across as a grumpy old man, maybe I am!

[Cratos]

Originally Posted by ubercapper

Clockers don't work for Equibase.

And that is the problem; they should because Equibase is the "official" data provider for thoroughbred info in North America.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Track Phantom

I'm curious if there are things that could be changed (on a low level) that would enhance your watching and/or betting experience. Not really talking about bigger scale things like takeout and drug oversight, but more fairly obvious things that could be easy enough to institute that would be positive for you in your involvement in the game.

Here are mine:
1. Horizontal wagers showing number of tickets remaining
* After each race, regardless of a p3, p4, p5, p6 and so on, show the number or remaining live tickets to each horse. Failure to do this is like watching a football game without a scoreboard.

2. Track surface constantly listed on the feed
* It would be nice to immediately see the current track conditions whenever glancing at the screen, not waiting for a scroll or to poke around elsewhere. Why not just list fast/firm or good/off or whatever constantly on the screen? Maybe it's done at some tracks, not sure.

3. Universal base wager payoffs
* It's annoying when one track uses a $2 payoff and another uses a .50c payoff. I would be nice if all tracks decided to show payoffs to their lowest base. This isn't a huge deal but I've been confused by this when looking at will-pays many times. I'd rather it be simple to understand.

4. Inquiry transparency
* Should be a camera and microphone showing the stewards discuss an inquiry. Not sure why this needs to be done in secret. I believe other parts of the world keep it transparent.

5. Camera shots isolating a 10 length winner down the stretch
* It shouldn't surprise anyone that a majority of the people watching a race, any race, is equally interested in who runs 2nd, 3rd, 4th as the winner. Split screen or wider pan view would be nice.

6. Entries farther in advance
* Personally, I would love it if the cards can be listed a week in advance. I know there are reasons why this might be an issue but, to my knowledge, tracks like EVD and MNR have their cards ready many days out. Would be helpful to have more time in order to isolate on a day.

7. Scratch rules listed prominently
* It may be user error here but I have tried to find out what the rules are for scratches, or off-the-turf in the middle of the card, etc and never can find what the rules are. So, when alive to a p4, and I get a gate scratch, for most tracks, I have no idea if I get the favorite or a consolation. Would like to see this displayed in an obvious area of the track website or listed on the screen whenever there is a scratch or surface change in the middle of the card.

These are just some of my own personal observations and annoyances I would like addressed. Would be very curious if others have their own things they would like changed.

1. Good idea....I'd also like to see the amounts of money in each entrant's trifecta and super pools....NYRA does show trifecta totals, but just once or twice during the betting period
2. I agree. Some tracks do not do this. Or they show it on a crawl so slow it rivals that old school cable tv channel guide.....
3. Use the base amount. Good idea.
4. Not seeing this happen. No other pro sport permits the public to hear discussions among officials when a ruling is under discussion....However, a clear explanation as to the ruling should always be made public at the time the decision is made. NFL style
5. This comes down to a case of money. Camera equipment is very expensive.
6 not sure what you are referring to here. Most tracks post entries at least 72 hours in advance.
7. Having the rules available for public consumption should be priority.
Every other pro and amateur sport has a rule book available to the public. Horse racing should be no different.
You have made some very good points here.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by biggestal99

NYRA to allow Jerseyites to bet the X. UK X bettors can bet NYRA but Jerseyites can't.

whats up with that?

Allan

The "X"?....

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by Stoleitbreezing

This was mine. If you're looking for "youth" in the fan base who grew up on HD programming you have to get the tracks to offer HD. A 20 something or late teen will be turned off right away without HD. Additionally the horseplayers who've been supporting and following this game for many years deserve a high quality program to watch too.

Once again......We're talking about money. Lots of money. This equipment is not inexpensive.
If you want all HD all the time and all kinds of sophisticated electronics and instant wagering pool info, someone has to pay for it.
Would you be willing to absorb 30 to 35% takeouts and no rebate ADW's?

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

Some tracks list the time until post as "3 minutes to race 5"...while other tracks list it as "Race 5 in 3 minutes". With so many races going on simultaneously, this causes unnecessary confusion. Why not pick one option...and use it for every track feed?

The simple response is most races do not go off at the exact post time.
Post time is a point of reference. Nothing more.
Anyone watching live on a monitor, from the stands or at home on their computer can see the gate load.

[thespaah]

Originally Posted by cj

Here is one that could help...how about not having Walk of Fame ceremonies during the middle of a race card. I know I'm probably coming across as a grumpy old man, maybe I am!

THat did take a while. Should have been done before the day's races....Between the 12:30 and 12:50

[cj]

Originally Posted by thespaah

THat did take a while. Should have been done before the day's races....Between the 12:30 and 12:50

Always good to honor deserving people and the two I saw today certainly deserving, but why in the middle of the card? Do it before or after and the people that actually want to watch / attend are free to do so.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by cj

Always good to honor deserving people and the two I saw today certainly deserving, but why in the middle of the card? Do it before or after and the people that actually want to watch / attend are free to do so.

They honored Shared Belief at Del Mar today. It was pretty good, actually.

[Saratoga_Mike]

Originally Posted by eqitec

Here's one: Standardization of workout type assignments across the country. What reasons could there be that almost every workout is considered "breezing" at east coast tracks and "handily" at west coast tracks? Since all clocking is done by Equibase, no commissioner or committees should be needed to change this. Equibase just needs to establish the standard criteria for what each type of workout should look like and insist that all clockers adhere to those standards.

Is WR using the West Coast convention?

[cj]

Originally Posted by Saratoga_Mike

Is WR using the West Coast convention?

Yeah that seems to be the standard in Oklahoma, Remington does it too.

[azeri98]

List all the drugs each horse is taking.

[Mason]

Originally Posted by Track Phantom

1. Horizontal wagers showing number of tickets remaining

2. Track surface constantly listed on the feed

3. Universal base wager payoffs

4. Inquiry transparency

5. Camera shots isolating a 10 length winner down the stretch

6. Entries farther in advance

7. Scratch rules listed prominently

These are just some of my own personal observations and annoyances I would like addressed. Would be very curious if others have their own things they would like changed.

1. Assiniboia does that after each leg of the pick 4. All tote providers run reports after each race. It is up to the TV department to actually type the data into their software. Sadly most tracks don't have a good enough TV department to actually want to care.

2. As others have said, I always see the track conditions posted

3. All tracks should show the base payoff and all ADW's should do the same. This falls into the hands of the mutuel manager at each track making the decision on telling their tote company to do so. Woodbine does a excellent job posting both the full price and the minimum bet price on their results graphics.

4. I disagree. I do not think those conversations need to be public. Remember it only takes 2 of 3 stewards to agree on a DQ and they never disclose which steward was against it. That is something taught in the ROAP program http://www.horseracingofficials.com/

5. Back to Assiniboia; they will take a runaway leader and put them in a box in the lower right of the screen, while keeping track of the field in full screen.

6.Totally disagree. The final program should be made public 48-72 hours in advance. There is way too many changes the longer the program is out there. Now that doesn't mean the early edition shouldn't be available when possible.

7. Every track should have a link to the racing rules per the state they are in.

Other ideas include:

• I think any loose horse should be scratched. We have seen this too many times at Tampa this year.
  
• Technology is too good in regards to the Pick wagers. If your selection is a late scratch, then it is a refund (surrounding that runner) and not receiving the post time favorite. How many times do we not like the favorite?
  Example pick 4 ticket: 1,2/3,4/5,6/7,8 and the 3 gets scratched in leg two, you are entitled to 8 combinations refunded.
  
• Starting gate should always start with stall 1. I see 8 horses and breaks out of stall 3, leaving the first two stalls open. Just watch some head on shots sometime. Yet in a full field in 14, they have no choice but to have the horse in stall 1.
  
• Loading process should have 3 horses loading at once in bigger fields, or try to. Some horses shouldn't have to be penalized for minutes for someone else delaying the start.
  
• The data companies need to do a better job on what they publish. This game thrives on historical past performances of a horse for wagering purposes. Yesterday is a prime example, where the Fonner (Equibase) chart writer is putting the early Pick 5 as a jackpot wager and this has gone on since they started the early pick 5 bet. These companies aren't proof checking their work or the data used in past performances and that in itself is infuriating.