Thursday, October 1, 2009
HANA & Equibase: Real Time Scratches and Changes
A long held bone-of-contention with horseplayers, as witnessed virtually all over the internet and in simulcast centers, is the lack of uniform, timely and completely accurate reporting of scratches and changes. It is not uncommon to hear "I did not know that race was off the turf", or like at this
Paceadvantage.com thread, "I know this will never come about, but how about one official change repository for all tracks?"
Well that has happened.
After productive meetings with Equibase at HANA Day at Keeneland this spring, the idea was hatched, and through fine work by Hank and crew, we now have a repository for scratches and changes all in one place. The area is disseminated with an RSS feed, so there is no reason at all this can not be proliferated all over the web with racetracks everywhere. HANA, on behalf of horseplayers, would like to thank both racetracks and equibase for helping out their customers, which in turn we hope helps players have a better racing and betting experience.
Here is the Press Release. Please visit Equibase to try out the new feature.
Current day scratches and program changes from racetracks throughout North America are now available throughout the day in a dedicated section of equibase.com, it was announced Oct. 1 by Equibase Company president and COO Hank Zeitlin.
Equibase developed the new service in conjunction with racetracks and with feedback from the Horseplayers Association of North America. Besides having access to the latest scratches, horseplayers can now obtain other critical updates such as when a race has been moved from turf to dirt, distance changes, jockey changes, and amended wagering options on equibase.com. They can also register to receive an RSS feed for each track they are playing, enabling instant delivery of information to desktops and mobile devices.
These scratches and program changes are updated live from the racetrack via eBase®, Equibase’s proprietary Internet-based data collection system. Designated personnel at the live track can now use eBase to enter the day’s scratches and program changes until one hour before post time for the first race, at which time Equibase chartcallers assume responsibility for entering subsequent changes.
“During the Keeneland spring meet where we held our first HANA Day at the Races, Equibase and members of HANA met for a productive meeting at their office,” said HANA President Jeff Platt. “We are very pleased that as a result of that beginning and subsequent discussions, horseplayers will now have access to a centralized, accurate resource for reporting of late-breaking changes.”
“Making it easier for horseplayers to acquire pertinent information such as scratches and program changes is simply good business and the tracks are happy to participate in this new arrangement,” said Chris Scherf, executive vice president of the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America.
The “Today’s Scratches & Program Changes” webpage was deployed Sept. 29 and is accessible via a link on the equibase.com homepage. The current day scratches and program changes are also available for electronic retrieval, which enables value-added resellers, tracks, and other industry organizations to provide timely changes and scratches to their respective customers.
Press Release courtesy Equibase.com.
