Horse racing Ireland and their advertised race distances.

[TheBluesBrother]

When the BHA re-measured the national hunt racecourses in the UK several years ago, prior to to their festival, Galway racecourse had a company in to measure their race distances, and to their dismay found out their advertised chase distance of 2m1f was in fact 2m2f.

There was an article published in the Thoroughbred Owner and Breeder magazine back in July 2016, that SIS would be introducing sectional timing at every Irish racecourse from January 1st 2017.

http://ownerbreeder.co.uk/news/irish-trainers-endorse-on-course-sectional-timing/

My question is, whatever happened to this? or was it just a case of what President Trump would call fake news.

I have contacted SIS, the Irish Jockey club, and Horse Racing Ireland on this subject to no avail.

Using the information supplied from Ireland, the Racing Post’s database is getting so corrupted, nobody will do anything about it, the main reason is they just don’t understand the subject.

A couple of weeks ago I sent an email to the clerk of the course at Tramore (IRE), politely asking, when was the last time you measured your race distances, no answer received.

In the past week, the advertised race distance from Down Royal, Bellewstown and Tipperary were so bad, trying to compile speed figures for these racecourses was next to impossible, as the laws of linear curve regression do not apply here.

I am a person who could stand up in a room full of clever Timeform people, and give a lecture on speed figures, yet I don’t have the ability to produce accurate speed figures from Irish racecourses like Tramore, I do believe that Mark Nelson when he was “Time Test” at the RFO refused to look the place.

I have always wondered why Timeform never produced Irish national hunt speed figures, I think I understand the reason why now.

Just take a look at the meetings from Bellewstown and Tipperary on the 6th July, they are the worst I have ever seen, if some of the advertised race distances were within one furlong, I would be surprised.

Remember when I posted on the forum years ago about the Wetherby NH race distances, before Timeform picked up on it, it is a far sight worse in Ireland.

Mike.

[robert99]

Darren Lawlor
Commercial & Broadcast Manager
Horse Racing Ireland, told me at the end of January:

“All Irish racecourses have now been GPS mapped. An In-Running data product will be launched later in 2017 and will form part of an offering to bookmakers.”
There will be updates in the coming weeks with more details.

What is needed is for the Irish Turf Club to publish the GPS mapping results and agreed amendments.
Without that, general confusion is inevitable. Some are using the accurate distances, some the about distances, some have not amended anything as no instructions given and the racing media gives out anything in between.

I presume the “offering to bookmakers” has not gone down well as they likely do not want to pay anything at all.
It should really be the racecourses providing this as a service to their customers. The cost of GPS sectionals is a fraction of what it once was.

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