Release 3.0 - Past Performances

I'll continue with our theme of new features available in Horsegrader 3.0 by covering past performances. Prior to Horsegrader 3.0, past performances were only available from the Key Factors screen.  With Horsegrader 3.0, past performances are still available on the Key Factors screen and now can also be accessed from the Speed Figures, Jockey and Trainer screens.  To display the past performances for any horse, simply click on the plus sign (+) to the right of the horse.  Here is an example of expanded past performances on the Jockey screen:

Click on the Jockey screen above to view a larger image and you'll see that I just happened to expand two horses, Gantry and Parent's Honor, who finished first in their last race!

Race Selection

I personally found it to be a bit cumbersome to have to return to the Horsgrader Race Selection screen whenever I wanted to look at another race at the same track.  Well, with the release of version 3.0 that is no longer an issue.  Now, all I have to do is click on the pull down arrow next to the current race number and the following screen snippet appears:

One aspect  that I really like about this new Horsegrader feature is that the list provides me with great summary information (i.e. Class, Purse or Claiming Price, Distance, Surface, Age Restriction and Post Time.  From the summary information I can quickly decide if a race is worth a look.  I'm certain that you also will find the Race Selection feature to be a quite a time saver.

Release 3.0 Sneak Preview

I've been informed that we are about to release version 3.0 of Horsegrader which contains a number of User Interface improvements.  The development team shared the new UI with me and I'm going to share a sneak preview of the new and improved tab menu with you.  The screens now all have a tab menu interface that provides for easy navigation and reinforcement as to the screen that you are currently on as illustrated in this Key Factors example:

 Note how the active tab (Key Factors) is highlighted.  I'll reinforce this notion by now showing you the Speed Figures menu:

There is no doubt that I've selected the Speed Figures tab.  That's it for this post, and next week I plan on sharing some of the other new features with you.

How Horsegrader Can Save You Time

As you become more familiar with Horsegrader you have probably noticed that Horsegrader does a fair amount of the work for you. Not sure what I mean? Let's look at an example with the following race:

Our example Race Surface is Turf. That being the case, I'm interested to know how the horse, jockey and trainer will perform on this surface.  The Horsegrader software knows that I will be looking for this and displays the answers with easy to read symbols and colors (aka Key Factors).

The horse, jockey and trainer Key Factors show me how they have performed in the past on Turf. I like that Horsegrader does the work for me; saving me the time I would normally spend studying past performance data to determine these Turf values.

With Horsegrader, I’m able to see, with just a quick glance, that the trainer and jockey of Off Limits have positive Turf Values, but that Off Limits has never won of Turf.

Trainer - Special Conditions

There are 4 Trainer Special Conditions that I find useful when deciding on my pick. The 4 conditions are Trainer: 1. First Start 2. Second Start 3. First Start after Claim and 4. First Start on Surface. The good news is that Horsegrader does all the work for me and all I need to do is look at the condensed Trainer screen:

Click to expand the image

The example shows two horses, Deb's Golden Touch and Smart Believer, making their first start for their respective trainers. The trainer for Deb's Golden Touch, Bruce N. Levine, has a neutral value of 19% for First Start. The trainer for Smart Believer, Richard E. Dutrow Jr., has a positive value of 19% for First Start. If all other factors were even, I'd pick Smart Believer over Deb's Golden Touch because of Richard E. Dutrow Jr.’s excellent record with First Time Starters.

Two horses are making their second start - Bronze Beauty and Mrs. Calabash. Both Todd A. Plether and James A Jenkins both have excellent records of 26% with Second Time Starters. That being the case, I'll need to look at other factors as I make my pick.

Finally, if none of the Trainer Special conditions apply, the Not Enough Information icon is shown.

What if I want to handicap a race now?

In last week’s post we covered Minutes to Post (MTP). This week, I'll show you the steps to take if you want to handicap a race in the next 30 minutes or see which tracks have races starting soon. This is so simple to do in the Horsegrader software! Just click on the Live Racing button in the task bar on the Race Selection screen:

After clicking you'll see all the races that will be going off in the next 30 minutes, as shown below:

Click on the image for a expanded view

Within this screen you can see the MTP under the Start column (second column from the left). Additionally, the Track, Race Number, Number of Entries, Post Time and Race description are displayed. Given the choices I would pick the 4th Race at Saratoga that starts in 20 minutes. By clicking on the Handicap button, you will be taken directly to that race. Clicking the Track will show you all the races today at that track.

I use the Now Live button whenever I need a quick handicapping fix!

Minutes to Post

One of the coolest things about Horsegrader is that anyone can easily determine how much time they have to apply their handicapping skills to an upcoming race. At a glance, I know if I have the time to cover all my bases or if I should just look at the attributes that I find the most valuable (i.e. Lone Speed, Top Speed, Race Shape, etc.). Let’s take a look at a section of the Race Selection screen as shown in the following snippet:

The arrow is indicating the Post Time column, which is showing that there are 18 minutes before the race starts - plenty of time to handicap with Horsegrader! The horse racing term for the countdown to the start of the race is referred to as Minutes To Post (MTP). Horsegrader uses colors to show MTP with Green indicating 15 minutes or more, Yellow indicating 10 to 15 minutes and Red indicating less than 10 minutes. The following two clips show the color change as the MTP is counting down:

14 Minutes to Post - Yellow

8 Minutes to Post - Red

Basically, when I see a Red MTP, I know that I have to hurry if I'm going to handicap that race!