"Stride Data"

Desert Orchid

Desert Orchid

Senior Jockey
Joined
Aug 2, 2005
Messages
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:lol:

Point is, a horse's stride length is inevitably tied to its level of fitness, insofar as its application to a race assessment is concerned. The stride data (along with all the other data-points) is rendered pretty-much irrelevant, if the horse arrives to the track unfit/over-weight.

I'm very-much an advocate of the more info the better, and I'm not glibly dismissing its value......but stride-data, wind-op data, head-gear data - you name it. - they're all dependent on the critical element of fitness-level, before their relevance can be considered genuinely meaningful, imo.

Determining a horses fitness level is the missing piece of the puzzle for punters, because everything else flows from that. Paddock watchers can form an opinion on this, of course, but it's hardly a scientific approach, and the publishing of weights upon arrival at the track (and in the form book) would be a giant leap forward for punters, imo. It would certainly be a better use of ink/pixels, than publishing RPRs!
 
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Agreed, but the weight counts for nowt if the horse isn't trying anyway.

As with all the info possible, deciding on the day what is going to be useful and what isn't is the crux.

At least in Hong Kong if the stewards decide a horse that should have run its race and doesn't is worthy of an investigation.

Over here the old school tie is more important than integrity.
 
As things stand, determining whether is a horse is off or not, is basically a conspiracy theory built around the reputation of connections, and the position of the horse in the market.

One would assume that on non-going days, the horse won't be hard-trained, and the weight will therefore give some kind of a clue as to whether the yard are serious, before any market drift is apparent. In other words, the info has a use -albeit not foolproof - even in this scenario.
 
Had a look at atride data overnight, and while it's to early too take a proper view, it looks an extension of SR'S obsession with reducing racing to a numbers game.
Fine, in theory, but (imo) it will never replace judging a horse's performance visually - and against what.
Horse weights would be useful, but they're always going to be '11th hourish', and little practical use for all but the late players.
 
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Going changes are a bit '11th hourish" as well, reet, and often aren't identified until the clockers have seen the time of the first race.

Weigh them as soon as they arrive at the stables, and publish the weights......probably gives a 2hr window before the first of them run, which is plenty of time in real terms.
 
reet hard said:
Had a look at atride data overnight, and while it's to early too take a proper view, it looks an extension of SR'S obsession with reducing racing to a numbers game.
Fine, in theory, but (imo) it will never replace judging a horse's performance visually - and against what.
Horse weights would be useful, but they're always going to be '11th hourish', and little practical use for all but the late players.
Click to expand...

My idea of their usefulness was that once a horse's stride pattern is established it might help identify well in advance which tracks, going and/or likely pace tactics might suit the horse best, in the absence of the expertise required by skilled paddock observation.
 
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