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Old 08-24-2016, 10:19 PM   #1
Track Phantom
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What could improve the experience?

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.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:36 PM   #2
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1. Woodbine does it, no one else does, as far as I know. More tracks should.

2. Most tracks I've seen always have the dirt/turf conditions up, regardless of what surface the upcoming race is on.

3. I can tolerate it if it says it on the feed (i.e. "$1 pick 4 payoff"). What drives me crazy is when tracks don't say how much it is (i.e. "exacta X & Y. How much is the base you list, though?)

4. Agreed.

5. In a few cases, I've seen the camera simply cut away from the winner and go back to the horses battling for second/third. Most tracks I've seen are good about not isolating the winner, though.

6. Some tracks do put their entries out really early, but I'm not a fan. If you leave the entry box open for longer, it increases the amount of horses entered. Besides, you'd probably see a lot of trainers change their minds 4-5 days out, which would lead to a lot of late scratches.

7. Agreed.

I write a column in which I occasionally bemoan some of these problems, but one that sticks out to me is the vagueness on scratch reasonings. "Trainer" or "Stake" is so vague as to be meaningless. If a trainer wants to scratch, it should be for medical reasons only, not because the trainer doesn't feel like running his horse.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:37 PM   #3
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What Could Improve Your Experience

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.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:45 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andtheyreoff
...but one that sticks out to me is the vagueness on scratch reasonings. "Trainer" or "Stake" is so vague as to be meaningless. If a trainer wants to scratch, it should be for medical reasons only, not because the trainer doesn't feel like running his horse.
Good one. I agree. No reason this can't be a bit more descriptive.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:46 PM   #5
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Quote:
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.
Another good one.
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Old 08-24-2016, 10:48 PM   #6
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Here's another one: there's too many coupled entries. Unless two horses have the same owner AND the same trainer, they should be uncoupled in the wagering. More betting interests in a race leads to better betting opportunities.

For example: in the fifth race at Monmouth Park on Saturday, Stylish Step is listed as being owned by Robert Reidy, and Dragon Queen's owner is listed as Just in Time Racing. But because both horses are trained by Mario Serey, they are coupled in the betting. Unless Reidy is part of Just in Time Racing (and that should be mentioned in the program if so), to have the horses be coupled is silly.

In the same race, Supah Jalene is owned by A. J. Bardaro and Joseph Pierce, and trained by Pierce. Grecian Queen is owned by Pierce and E.P. Lindh, but trained by Patricia Farro. Both are coupled.
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Old 08-24-2016, 11:07 PM   #7
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as far as #7, in any pic4 I've seen, if you horse scratches after wagering starts, you get the favorite in the race.
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Old 08-24-2016, 11:33 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by andtheyreoff
Here's another one: there's too many coupled entries....
Yes. Agree here. I think when the initial rule for coupling was created, it wasn't assumed that 60% of the horse population would be trained by 15% of the trainers.

Seeing as field size (i.e. betting options) is such a major concern, you'd think this self-imposed problem could be removed.
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Old 08-24-2016, 11:37 PM   #9
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Semi-related to your #1, and since I exclusively play horizontals, I would love a "probable" option where I could plug in hypothetical winners of 4, 5, or 6 race sequences, and a platform would reveal how much this combo pays given the current state of the pools.
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Old 08-24-2016, 11:38 PM   #10
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Giving the public the weight of horses.
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Old 08-25-2016, 06:36 AM   #11
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HD for all tracks..audio to hear what jocks are saying. Like in the 98 Belmont stretch drive..
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Old 08-25-2016, 07:04 AM   #12
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only thing i would want would be limits on how many horses a trainer and his owners can have in training and an owner can have in training during a meet.

i think the number 30 is more than enough for a trainer and 5 is more than plenty for an owner.


i am sick of watching races with 3 and 4 horses in it from the same trainer in big races all the time. it makes the race unplayable for me. since the start of corporate racing programs the game has declined and it is quite evident that it is in big trouble after watching the last 2 breeders sales.
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Old 08-25-2016, 08:28 AM   #13
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NYRA to allow Jerseyites to bet the X. UK X bettors can bet NYRA but Jerseyites can't.

whats up with that?

Allan
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Old 08-25-2016, 08:48 AM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EMD4ME
HD for all tracks..audio to hear what jocks are saying. Like in the 98 Belmont stretch drive..
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.
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Old 08-25-2016, 10:30 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EMD4ME
HD for all tracks..audio to hear what jocks are saying. Like in the 98 Belmont stretch drive..
this is what i was going to say. horseracing is way behind the times....as always
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