Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year

[BillyHills]

This week we have heard the news that Sectional timing will used in many of the QIPCO Championship races, now i'm not a great fan of speed ratings due to the constant changes of the layouts in our tracks from meeting to meeting but do see that they can be useful in certain places and the AW tracks is a perfect example, same course, same going etc.... Sectional timing is a whole new ball game and would love to see that implemented across the board like in many other countries, apparently its too expensive to do it, I have no idea how much it would cost. I'd be interested to know how this will help the punter being such a small sample or is it just a bit of a publicity stunt for the sponsors and another excercise in pandering to the best races. Surely it wouldn't cost too much to get it installed at the 4 AW tracks but is that thought of as a waste of money as the class of horse at those tracks doesn't warrant it?

Following a successful test run last season, most of the races in this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series will record sectional timing from TurfTrax. Fractional times will be available from about two-thirds of the 35 races in the series. The plan is a joint deal between the series and four tracks, Newmarket, Ascot, Goodwood, and York. A total of 19 race days will be covered, including the whole of five racing festivals: the QIPCO Guineas Festival at Newmarket, Royal Ascot, Glorious Goodwood, and the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival at York, as well as Betfair King George day at Ascot. Every race will be covered on the participating racedays, which comprise 16 QIPCO British Champions Series fixtures and three days which do not feature a Series race, Dubai Future Champions Day at Newmarket, when many of the stars of next year’s series are likely to be in action, and days one and four of Glorious Goodwood. Discussions will start soon with the host broadcasters to help them achieve maximum benefit from the data with which they will be provided. Rod Street, chief executive of the QIPCO British Champions Series, said he is looking forward to the added information. “We are delighted to be bringing sectional timing to over 60% of our series races this year in partnership with Ascot, Goodwood, Newmarket, and York,” Street said. “As well as providing invaluable data to enrich broadcasts and post-race reporting, we hope that it will prove another step along the road towards even more extensive use of this excellent TurfTrax product in the future. “All sports need to embrace technology and although installing sectional timing at British racecourses is challenging and costly given the unique layout of many of our tracks, it is something which we believe can play an increasingly important role in the appreciation and analysis of our sport.”

For those that are not familiar with sectional timing; What are TurfTrax sectional times? A ‘sectional time’ is the time (in seconds) recorded for a horse to cover a furlong (or section) on the track. They allow us to better assess the pace at different stages of a race and the associated performances of each horse. How does it work? TurfTrax use a world-first speed and positioning system to track each horse in real-time. Using a very small transmitter in the horse’s saddlecloth, fixed receivers placed at various points alongside the course accurately plot the progress of the horse as it travels along the course. Can the speed and positioning system reveal any additional information about a race? Yes, the TurfTrax system records:

• the horse’s in-running speed
• the horse’s acceleration or deceleration
• the horse’s distance travelled
• the in-running race positions

How do sectional times help us? Knowledge is power, and sectional timing is an integral aid for punters to keep one step ahead. By quantifying the sectional times and speeds, we can more accurately study the performances of horses and the effect of pace on their racing styles. One can also reveal if a horse fails to stay or is simply outpaced. Sectional timings can basically show you where a horse was using up his energy. How do I know what a good sectional time is? Assessing a good or bad performance comes from studying and comparing TurfTrax RaceData from previous races and factoring in the race conditions on the day. By doing this one can judge what pace a horse requires to at different stages of the race to deliver it’s best results.

[erhaab1965]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year This technology has been around for years , it has only been sparingly used at only a handful of meetings , I can't see why its not employed everyday.

[stewartd14]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year

This technology has been around for years ' date=' it has only been sparingly used at only a handful of meetings , I can't see why its not employed everyday.[/quote'] Nor can I. We are labouring behind other racing nations whilst we do not have this in place. Imperative that it's implemented. Cost is an interesting one, but has to be a great sponsorship opportunity. Sectional times by Timeform, or Sectional times by Betfair etc. Would need collaboration between tracks and tv channels (and racing media), but we really do need to move forward with this.

[richard-westwood]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year can only be a good thing .....will certainly help me .....the more info the better

[Trotter]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year I don't think it'll do any harm but I'm not sure if I'll take much notice of it, even though I do my own speed figs Couple of things..............firstly information overload. Obviously I'm not going to do different speed figs for each section of each race - I'd be up all night doing it. I could maybe see the point of confining your speed rating to the last two or three furlongs (the Mordin approach) as it would be nice to know comparitively how fast each horse runs at the business end of the race. But there's no point if it's only a few dozen races The main point of course though is that it only tells you about past races - you still have to work out or take a guess on the likely angles in the race you're studying for a bet.

[mowgli77]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year You sometimes see a race where they look to be travelling slowly but the commentator says they have gone off at a good clip and sectional timing would prove exactly how quick they had gone off. It also gives you an idea if the pace is consistent through the race or if a race has developed from a crawl into a sprint. You can usually see this visibly anyway but timings give the exact details. You often see poor horses struggling at the rear of the field when up against genuine top class horses. It would be interesting to see the exact pace that is catching these horses out and how it differs from a poorer class race. Some only struggle at the business end where others get left behind early on. I concentrate mainly on the last 2f when horses are starting to come off the bridle as I like horses that travel strongly but then find another gear. So many come there looking good and find nothing and fade. It would be good to see the difference in times between the last 2f and the first 2f.

[robertob]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year I'd like to see this introduced for every race meeting in the UK and also Ireland. I think as a punter you can only benefit from it. It's another additional information you can use for your analyses. Since I went into South African racing I see what a powerful tool sectional timing can be. Well, in SA racing you only get the time for the last 2f (and only if you buy the computaform online racecards) but that alone is already very useful as in SA almost every races turns into a sprint. So to see how fast a horse can run the final two furlongs and to be able to compare this time with other performances/situations and to other runners in the field is very, very useful. Therefore I would really appreciate sectional timing in the UK.

[stewartd14]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year Not watched C4 racing in ages, but does anyone else remember when they used to show the travelling speed on the race screen ? Wonder how accurate that really was ? If it was accurate, makes the suggestion that it costs to much even more puzzling.

[Snert]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year I'm with Trotter on this one, it would be information overload. I also do my own ratings which are based on speed, but I would probably ignore any sectional timings if they arrive. I'm more interested in the winners time than sectionals. Each race is different, some are too fast over the first 1-2 furlongs, others are very slow while most are probably average, there is no way you can know in advance which way it's going to turn out so I can't really see how sectional timings will help, remember, horses are not machines, they have good and bad days, so do jockeys. As a numbers man I rely on speed figures but I'll settle for the winning time rather than sectionals.

[Trotter]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year

I'd like to see this introduced for every race meeting in the UK and also Ireland. I think as a punter you can only benefit from it. It's another additional information you can use for your analyses. Since I went into South African racing I see what a powerful tool sectional timing can be. Well' date=' in SA racing you only get the time for the last 2f (and only if you buy the computaform online racecards) but that alone is already very useful as in SA almost every races turns into a sprint. So to see how fast a horse can run the final two furlongs and to be able to compare this time with other performances/situations and to other runners in the field is very, very useful. Therefore I would really appreciate sectional timing in the UK.[/quote'] I think if we had that I would change the way I do my speed figs and just do my figures on the last 2 furlongs..........similar to what Nick Mordin does (he tries to do his own sectionals from TV coverage !) Do you happen to know if the 2 furlong sectional time is given seperately for each horse ? Or do you need to know how far behind the leader each horse was at the 2 furlong pole to try to work out a time for a horse that was 10 lengths back at the 2 furlong pole and ran on to win ?

[robertob]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year It's pretty straightforward. You get a separate time for each horse which was recorded for the last 2 furlongs in the race. So you can even compare the times of horses who ran in the same race. And that is pretty useful. I also like the fact (in SA racing) that you get the information on what position in the field a horse was at the 800m and 400m mark and how many lengths it was behind the leader at that time.

[Snert]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year I really don't see any advantage of knowing how fast a horse can run the last 2 furlongs without knowing how fast the previous furlongs were run. If it is a slow run race - the last 2 furlongs are likely to be fast, if it was a fast run race from the start the last 2 furlongs are likely to be slow. There is no way of knowing in advance whether it's going to be fast from the off or tactical with a sprint finish so I'll stick with my current system of using winning times.

[Trotter]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year

I really don't see any advantage of knowing how fast a horse can run the last 2 furlongs without knowing how fast the previous furlongs were run. If it is a slow run race - the last 2 furlongs are likely to be fast, if it was a fast run race from the start the last 2 furlongs are likely to be slow. There is no way of knowing in advance whether it's going to be fast from the off or tactical with a sprint finish so I'll stick with my current system of using winning times.

That's pretty much my default position as well.........but if i ever was to take much notice of sectional times it would be for the last couple of furlongs when the race is 'on' But on the whole I'd rather stick to final race times

[robertob]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year Well, you're probably right but final race times and individual finishing times for each horse are also available, as options to compare the times to division standard times etc.. So All together you can get pretty easily a clear picture of how a race was ran before the final 400m. And therefore it's pretty useful to know how fast a horse ran the final 400m in a certain situation. But as I said, most races in SA are run with a slow pace, what is a real shame actually.

[ExpectTheUnexpected]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year First thing that springs to mind here is Frankel. As much as I love him when he kicks for home with that burst, after he's done so he does seem to start idling(sussex stakes sprint finish aside). Would love to see how fast he picks up but also whether it's just my imagination or whether he really does slow down after that burst. If it's proved he does, I might start opposing him over that extra trip. Strictly e/w of course :D

[robert99]

Re: Sectional Timing to be used in QIPCO races this year "installing sectional timing at British racecourses is challenging and costly given the unique layout of many of our tracks" If the media keep repeating this then it becomes the accepted wisdom. Please ask the question and tell us roughly what it will cost. A transponder for each horse costs less than £5. Might need 200 a season taken along with the staring stalls to each meeting - £1000. It is not at all challenging it has already been proven to work at such diverse tracks as AW tracks, Newmarket, Sandown, York, Goodwood and Cheltenham This is what Turftrax actually say about the equipment, which is a small number of radio receivers around the track that transmit individual horse data to a PC server. Turftrax already have the software to process that into final race data in seconds. "(Turftrax) The TTS has been extensively used, tested and proven in 5,000 thoroughbred races in the UK involving 60,000 horses at courses such as Newmarket, Cheltenham and York. A key aspect of the system is its flexibility of deployment; it does not require a costly infrastructure. Once a facility has been inducted the system can be easily transported to it and installed on the day before racing. " Say each transmitter costs £2000 and we need 30 shared between tracks - that is £60K Turftrax staff per meeting , say £300 and for 600 meetings on turf - £180k So total first year cost is of the order £241k. It is the staff costs that are the main issue not the equipment. If the racecourse staff could be trained to set up each meeting then that cost might be more than halved. It does not seem a huge cost in the scheme of things seeing that punters are paying racing £72M plus for each season.