Technological advances have been revolutionary in sport in recent years, particularly in the last decade. So why is racing so slow to make the same progress?
It’s not a global syndrome, but it is one which seems to be affecting Australia more than many of the world’s large racing jurisdictions.
Whether we are unwilling or just slow, I have come to realise that the Australian racing industry is behind the times in terms of technology, a view formed by recent international trips and personal experiences.
Australia is stuck in an age of black and white while the rest of the world is moving forward with colour. Perhaps an analogy of Australia using a mainframe computer while the rest of the world is using iPads would also suffice.
There are many examples of where Australia is falling behind, but the focus of this article is on in-running data – times, margins and sectionals.
This data is crucial for punters, the lifeblood of our sport. It allows punters to analyse all the information in front of them to make an informed decision.
Currently, Australia uses a number of different timing systems, all ineffective. Times published by the race clubs can have many errors, and as for sectionals – for the uninitiated, the time a horse takes to cover a certain distance, usually the last 200m, 400m, 600m or 800m of a race – they are all over the place.
Melbourne form analyst Vince Accardi provides sectional times that are accurate – and what is scary is how often they can differ to the “official” time.
Clearly, we need a better product.
While travelling to international race meetings last year, I had the opportunity to experience a timing system called Trakus.
This system is used at a number of North American tracks – Churchill Downs, Keeneland, Woodbine, Del Mar, Gulfstream Park – as well as international tracks like Meydan in Dubai, Kranji in Singapore, Deauville in France and Veliefendi in Turkey.
Since gaining an understanding of how Trakus works, as well as seeing the amount of data gathered through this system, I’ve advocated the introduction of this technology in Australia.
It looked like the Moonee Valley Racing Club would install Trakus before the William Reid Stakes, but it didn’t happen and we are still awaiting an announcement from the club.
If this reads like an advertisement for Trakus, I make no apologies. In an era where racing needs to be on the front foot to ensure continued participation from the punter, it is the perfect tool for providing accurate information in a number of forms.
It is for all punters, from professionals to those who have a once a year flutter.
So what is Trakus?
As the name suggests, it essentially tracks a horse’s position in a race. Lucas Marquardt, writing in American publication Thoroughbred Daily News, explained the process further.
“A small radio transmitter (about the size of a credit card) on the saddletowel of each runner sends a signal to antennas located around the track,” he wrote.
“That signal carries an array of information, including a horse’s exact location, in relation to other horses and to the rail, the speed at which he is travelling, and the distance of ground he is covering.”
“Trakus can then, in real time, convert the data in a number or ways, such as creating a small coloured tile, or “chicklet” to represent each runner (the colours correspond with the horse’s saddletowel–one is red, two is white, etc).”
When most see Trakus for the first time, the first and most notable aspect is the television displays which have polarised racing audiences. These involve the little squares, known as “chicklets”, which represent each runner’s place in the field.
Many see the chicklets as a valuable tool when watching a race, especially when trying to differentiate between colours in a large field.
There has been some criticism that it turns a horse race into the equivalent of a keno game, almost like a lottery. The race is still being run but the graphical representation doesn’t do it justice.
When trying to grab the attention of new audiences, though, this is one way to help them understand racing.
However, the chicklets are one small area. The data collected from each race is phenomenal and can help to make judgements about the merits of individual performances within a race.
Last weekend’s Singapore International Cup and Krisflyer Sprint were two such examples.
Let’s start with the Krisflyer Sprint.
Trakus data tells us that Australia’s Bel Sprinter ran seven metres more than the winner Lucky Nine when finishing second three lengths astern.
Seven metres is the rough equivalent of 2.7 lengths, so it is perhaps doubtful that Bel Sprinter could have beaten Lucky Nine had both had identical runs.
While Hong Kong dominated the Cup, running the quinella, perhaps England could claim rotten luck.
Jane Chapple-Hyam’s Mull of Killough, who finished fifth, ran 18m more than Cup winner Military Attack. That’s a rough equivalent of 6.9L, but he was beaten 4.8L.
It’s a similar story for compatriot Red Cadeaux. The 2011 Melbourne Cup runner up finished eighth, beaten 6.5L, but he ran 17m (or 6.6L) more than Military Attack.
It provides food for thought, and while all honours were with the winner, it suggests Mull of Killough and Red Cadeaux should be examined carefully when they next step out.
Effectively, it quantifies data that until now was more speculative than factual.
Instead of simply saying, “Mull of Killough had a wide run, he should have finished closer if he’d managed to slot in,” one can now use figures to draw conclusions.
It is horse racing – there are many variables that would change and so it is hard to make any definitive conclusion.
But it adds more weight to an argument.
Not only does Trakus give data like peak speed, average speed, sectionals and distance covered, but it also allows for numerous virtual replays.
Take the Kentucky Derby recently.
The Trakus data allowed the governing body at Churchill Downs to release a “Ride The Derby Winner” video, where one can experience what it was like for Joel Rosario aboard Orb.
It may not be as realistic as jockey cam but it’s a lot more smooth and gives an idea of what faced the horse and jockey in America’s most famous race.
It may have been a helpful guide when assessing the Preakness Stakes, as it was clear (if the replay wasn’t clear enough) Orb had been the beneficiary of a brutal tempo.
I’d love to see this for a Cox Plate or a Melbourne Cup.
Ride the Kentucky Derby winner Orb with Joel Rosario here:
As with everything in Australian racing, it seems the only restrictions are self-imposed.
It is not only a matter of finances – installing it at every track would be expensive – but it is also a case of internal politics interfering with progress.
Until the rights to vision are sorted once and for all, it will be difficult to move forward with a project as big as Trakus. Once again, it is the industry’s participants who are shafted while industry bodies squabble.
Surely the time has come for the Australian racing industry to invest in new technologies like Trakus to ensure we give racing every possibility to remain relevant for the audiences of the future.
The possibilities are endless, if only we make a technological leap.
FERNANDO VINCENZINI
Guest
I was just emailed the link to your article, and it reflects the need in the part of the sport to come up to snuff with the requirements of today's players. Trakus by the way, although they call themselves a timing system, they are not capable of timing races, and will never be licensed in the US by any jurisdiction to officiate timing at any racetrack. The technology is proven time after time to be utterly unreliable and inaccurate, and this is not something that can be fixed be tweaking software or hardware. The inherent lack of accuracy in Trakus is part and parcel of the type of base technology used to build the system. The question is, why invest millions to deploy a system that is less accurate than anything you have available. is it just because of the cartoon like animation? as soon as your punters get wind that the information being pushed is bogus the novelty wears out. Try comparing the photo finish to the Trakus finish to see the discrepancies up close. Other groups are already disclosing the fact that Trakus can't time the races. Read the link: http://www.scmp.com/sport/racing/article/1300962/jockey-club-chief-tones-down-high-expectations-new-racing-season Also please visit www.goautochart.com to view a technology that is the real thing, with more than 20,000 races matched to the photo finish, and approved by several Racing Commisions in the US as a timing provider. 1/1000 second accuracy for every horse at every point of call, full field running order on our own HD television graphics system, instant charts and performance data graphs, but most of all affordable. Autochart is the ideal technology for Australian Racing. No gimmicks. Fully wireless and solar powered. We will be showcasing the system at Suffolk Downs Racetrack in Boston Mass. the month of October. I welcome comments and questions.
Bill Whitehead
Guest
Andrew this is a very timely article given the ongoing conversation around the impact of betting on television. I see this technology as being a proactive tool to bring racing and not only Horse. but trotting and dogs to a much wider audience; one which is not schooled in the classical view of racing. I also acknowledge the valid comments of Alexander Grant and Allanthus about putting far to much information on the screen at one time which only has the effect of degrading the value of the product. But all is not lost though. With digital broadcasting on both free to air and Foxtel it is a very simple process to select the view of the race you are most comfortable with such as no overlays at all, or just the coloured box's, or the race and sectional times etc. If and only if'; racing administrators are truly committed to exporting Australian Racing to the world then these simple but highly effective options must become a high priority. Finally systems such as this also play a very valuable role in the governance of racing. For example in the event of a protest the race can be replayed from the angle of the protesting party or vice versa, The data can be also be matched by integrity stewards to look if the riding instructions had been followed or if the horse was not preforming to an expected standard within set guidelines. This may show the horse has an injury or is effected by a substance etc. Racing and sports in general play and have played a fundamental role in Australian society but is taking a big hit at the moment from all of the cheating allegations, it is now past the point of no return for sports and time for the administrators and regulators to look out side the box and embrace technology to win back confidence.
Geoff Parkes
Expert
Hi Andrew Very thought provoking article. Call me old fashioned but I agree with Alexander about not liking to see the screen cluttered up during races. Plus it does my head in when the tiles or names are in the opposite direction to the way the horses are running. I'd much rather get a better view of the race, focus on the horses I'm interested in and pick anything else up in a replay. Agree about sectional timing accuracy though - that would be a huge improvement.
Justin Cinque
Expert
I agree completely. We need mid-race sections. When TVN started out in 2005 they used to post 200m sections in the top of left of the screen. I don't know why they stopped. I'd like to see 100m sections mid-race. Would make immediate post-race analysis so much more reliable.
Drew H
Guest
Australia is a bit retarded when it comes to adopting and implementing technology; devices and systems. We have been able to do this sort of thing for 15+ years. Similarly, we have a 4G phone network that does very little over 3G, despite the huge potential. Mobile punting is the best so far. But the officials are cunning. If you have an invention, they would know how to collect a licence fee or surcharge for it's business gain. I don't see why taxes on profits aren't enough. I can't soar like an eagle with all these turkeys around.
Justin Cinque
Expert
And the reason is because times are deduced by when a horse's saddlecloth passes the finish. The timing mechanism is in the saddlecloth. Despite being beaten, Bauer's saddlecloth passed the finish before Viewed's.
Alfred Chan
Expert
One of the great tech moments in Australian racing - Bauer ran the 2008 Melbourne Cup in a faster time than the winner, Viewed, according to the official times.
Alexander Grant
Roar Pro
I'm still not sold on the idea of coloured tiles being used as a measure for where horses are running in the field. It's a lot of clutter on the screen for all the races I've seen using it. What I do like is the track map showing time left until the post as well as sectional times popping up within this map. Sectionals are never mentioned in the same amount as barriers and weights in television coverage I've found, which is strange considering their significance. Sectionals allow a much more accurate determination mid race of how the race tempo can affect different runners releative to their current position. Many people can accurately determine this from things like how stretched out the field is or the running patterns on show, but it would make a huge difference to actually put a numerical value on that for all viewers to see. At times it's embarrassing how far this country falls behind in sports tracking. Alfred has already mentioned the NBA as a great example and I'd like to add NASCAR to the argument with its incredible ability to update car positions live even as they scroll across the screen - as they update split times literally every half second and not just at set points across the track. Horse racing is something almost made for this kind of input yet nothing has come about.
Alfred Chan
Expert
Great article Andrew. It's impossible to disagree. Of course, I'm not the one paying for it so of course I'd like it haha. Roughly how much would the system cost? The NBA are the best in the world when it comes to technology and positional tracking. They have a system where multiple cameras around a stadium can track movement and heat levels of players down to millimeters and is the key device to their sabermetrics. Trakus sounds very similar, albeit over a much larger space. In an ideal world, heat/heart rate analysis is something I'd love to see in horse racing just to analyse how comfortable certain horses are in running relative to their positions as well as how they react to hard riding and the whip. Throw out intuition - lets play some moneyball!