I think that the most under utilized thing is our own minds, our imagination. We can often become lost in the data and miss opportunities that arise in the roughly 30% of races that lie "outside the numbers. "
Imagining alternative possible scenarios can be productive. Looking backward, I would guess that roughly 10% of all races would have been unhittable because the races were unplayable or the winners won only because of unpredictable events occurring during their running.That leaves 20% of winners at good odds that might have been playable given an alternative perspective to the data alone. We look at a 20% win percentage as very good for a horse,jockey or trainer so why would we want to omit this group from consideration?
One simple ,practical demonstration of what I mean is to quickly handicap a race BEFORE considering the data . Ignore the speed and pace figures and focus on the running lines and the human connections and "imagine" a scenario in which each horse could win. THEN consult the data and compare results. Often they'll be similar but sometimes you'll find a nice overlay that just doesn't "seem to fit the numbers profile". Perhaps what I'm getting at, is the need to think about the race in addition to "calculating " it. Therein may lie that "something new to discover". — William Zayonce
Winners on Top: 27/78 (34.6%) Bet: $156.00 Returned: $217.20 Profit/Loss: +61.20 — Conley
I have and did for a short period of time due to the information being very expensive but then I created my own ThoroGraph "figure" and now I don't buy them since I do the figures myself — Conley
And a special thanks for changing your mind about allowing us to add threads. — Rich Val
Dave, I can't say that I do like the plot approach. I just presented it as an alternative to RanchWest topic here. The position of the squares and circles are based on numeric ratings. The product suite also presents the numeric data in a spreadsheet. — Tony Kofalt
How close is "The Studio" to being completed? — Biniak
I prefer numbers, too. Especially if they are sorted or sortable or color coded or in some one get me to the top horses quickly. The graphical approach is slightly slow for me. I don't mind it as a bonus for replays, but I don't care for the concept for handicapping. — RanchWest
I prefer numbers. The plot is too much graphically. I know you didn't ask me. — Biniak
Yes, the horse's shortest previous rest was 22 days and his median rest was 33 days. So, passing on a shorter rest is completely reasonable to me — RanchWest
It doesn't matter how you did it. A gazillion people bet that race and very few had the winner obviously. If you walked up to the window and cashed a ticket on that race then Kudos to you. Doesn't matter if you got a tip from a drunk horse walker or you got a tip from Mr. Ed cashing a ticket is what counts in this game. And for those of you too young to get the reference, Mr. Ed was a talking horse on tv in the 60's I believe. — Handiman
Count me in too. I'm sort of a one horse pony programmer meaning I'm comfortable with only one language but I'm always interested in improving. — Steven
Ranch merging workout lines in the PP"s has always intrigued me. — Tony Kofalt
Let me first say that Tom is one of my all- time favorite posters. His work on PA and here is so valuable and often times hilarious. Tom I love the way you took products available at no or very little cost and made them more useful! I've always known these features were there but I've been too stubborn to investigate them. — Tony Kofalt
I don't know how to directly put in a screenshot, but here is a file that shows a portion of the running lines of today's 4th race at CD for the winner, #1, Hawk of War. Hopefully I've done this correctly. — RanchWest