RDSS 2.0 MyRaces Collection

[Ted Craven]

Working on defining collections of similar races, by day (some might call these 'Portfolios'). I call them My Races.

Right now I'm creating some example collections to play with. Here are a few for today.

20158

20162

20163

You'll be able to create your own collections, filtered and sorted as you like.

Ideas welcomed!

Ted

[gary w.]

That looks like a great idea, Ted. Something like this could help me focus and remove some of the chaos from decision making...........I seem to play too many races right now so this would definitely take away the, "temptation" factor.

[Bill Lyster]

Ted:

Does the My Races data come from a central source or do you have to download all the tracks from which the data gets summarized? Would the My Races data summarize info from all tracks running that day or is the data summarized for only the tracks downloaded?

It could be expensive to download the data for six or more tracks and then find out that there are relatively few opportunities on a given day. Just thinking $$$$ before handicapping here.

Thanks,

[Ted Craven]

TrackMaster has allowed me to generate lists like these (via RDSS running on a server) and post files which RDSS running on your computer can automatically download each day. So you can see what's available and decide which full cards to buy if you don't do Unlimited.

The idea is to gradually add more interesting complexity (e.g. races where there are 3+ early fighters = OTE, or where there is 1 lone Early, or M/L favourite = 3-1+ = uncertainly) so you can see races with spot plays where you stand a chance, or where your wager records show you are profitable, etc

I'd be interested in more examples of desirable race specs, just to confirm my belief that (in the long run) I can code pretty much anything.

Ted

[SilentRun]

Ted,

Just curious, what programming language are you using ?

Ernie

[Ted Craven]

Ted,

Just curious, what programming language are you using ?

Ernie

PowerBuilder.

20187

[For The Lead]

TrackMaster has allowed me to generate lists like these (via RDSS running on a server) and post files which RDSS running on your computer can automatically download each day. So you can see what's available and decide which full cards to buy if you don't do Unlimited.

The idea is to gradually add more interesting complexity (e.g. races where there are 3+ early fighters = OTE, or where there is 1 lone Early, or M/L favourite = 3-1+ = uncertainly) so you can see races with spot plays where you stand a chance, or where your wager records show you are profitable, etc

I'd be interested in more examples of desirable race specs, just to confirm my belief that (in the long run) I can code pretty much anything.

Ted

Just curious, Ted. Does Trackmaster offer you the ability to see "race conditions", such as NW2L, NW1X or anything like those?

[Ted Craven]

Just curious, Ted. Does Trackmaster offer you the ability to see "race conditions", such as NW2L, NW1X or anything like those?

I have to decode that from the full race conditions, but given enough tweaking (some conditions get pretty creative ;)), it should pretty much match what you would see in the PPs for a given race. Here was my 1st crack at it. Mouse-over popup shows full conditions.

I can make available via server (i.e. without users first paying to download), race related data per these samples. For data related to horses running in a given race, e.g. the mix of running styles, you'd have to download the card.

20190

20191

Ted

[Ted Craven]

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20192

[Ted Craven]

...
20193

20194

[SilentRun]

Working on defining collections of similar races, by day (some might call these 'Portfolios'). I call them My Races.
You'll be able to create your own collections, filtered and sorted as you like.

Ideas welcomed!

Ted

Ted,

This is a nice feature and as I understand this if you see several of your favorite
types of races offered by a track you can then pay for the card.

My thought is....will it be possible to create custom cards from several tracks
per day so the user can access a card that contains ONLY all of their favorite
types of races ?

For example: Say a user wants only to play 8F dirt races (Claiming only).
Then the software will search all tracks and extract these specific races and
create a custom card that the user can download and be billed for.
The track conditions should be noted alongside each race. The times of each
race should not conflict. The standard could be 8 races but if it is not
possible to extract 8 say a minimum of 5 could be offered.
You need the concurence of Trackmaster.
As I am writing this I see a lot of factors have to be worked out.
Then there are issues I am not aware of.

But this is just an idea that would be a boon for those users
who consistently profit from specific types of races.

Ernie

[Ted Craven]

My thought is....will it be possible to create custom cards from several tracks per day so the user can access a card that contains ONLY all of their favorite types of races ?


Ernie,

Highly unlikely. As a matter of fact, they asked me if that was my intention with this (it wasn't) and that not only was it a technical challenge they'd be reluctant to consider, but there was likely a very small market for it overall, given their experience with similar poorly-faring ideas in their existing product lineup.

Consider that existing individual race cards have rather a bit of 'filler' in them (albeit different filler for different folks): races you're really not interested in from a bettor's point of view (though owners may sure want maiden 2YO and Turf sprints with 5 horses with guaranteed running prizes, and some tracks struggling to fill even 8 races a day). You could say that for the actually valuable races you get from buying 1 card now, it's over priced. However, paying for, say 4 cards to get 8 races where every race is one where your records show you have an edge - that cost of $1.50 x 4 = $6.00 (Regular plan) may be quite a bargain (and anyway, better than the printed DRF :D).

In fact, I'm not shy to say I hope it promotes more data sales - but at the same time much more value to the user.

Ted

[Ted Craven]

...
20203

[SilentRun]

However, paying for, say 4 cards to get 8 races where every race is one where your records show you have an edge - that cost of $1.50 x 4 = $6.00 (Regular plan) may be quite a bargain (and anyway, better than the printed DRF :D).


Ted

Ok...referring to the above is an excellent option.

Ernie

[cdax]

Ted,

I think this is a great feature for the new release. I do have a couple questions tho.

1 - You stated earlier about playing with other "race specs" for coding purposes and had made mention of "spot plays". I was wondering if filtering can include the horse's pps. Example:

Filter for today's race = Dirt Sprint (5.5 f to 7 f) where an entrant ran on the lead at 1c and 2c in last two races which were Turf Routes.

If not, then just have to manually browse the selected races.

2 - On your list of "My races" screen, can they be sorted by post time instead of alpha. ?

Thanks for all your work and support.

Chris

[Ted Craven]

Chris,

1. The search itself is not a problem. I'm not sure how fancy retrieval conditions I can mount on an automated server though, compared to retrieval conditions you could run yourself if you had all the data. There could be any kind of condition you want (such a horse had to run within last 35 days and had 2 works > 85 SR, must not be 'gray' ;), etc, etc). What I'm showing here results from the online-RDSS simply creating a list of ALL races for the day, then in your own RDSS you specify your own composed filters and sorts against that list (obtained free from the RDSS server). You could not make further queries which involved horses' PPs unless you had those PPs. Maybe I could make a way to submit custom queries to the online-RDSS for such requests as you suggest - but first things first...:)

2. Here you go. Your query would simply be sorted by post-time, either as part of the default query, or ad hoc. (I haven't finished making post times shown in your local time zone yet).

20204

20205

[For The Lead]

Ernie,

Highly unlikely. As a matter of fact, they asked me if that was my intention with this (it wasn't) and that not only was it a technical challenge they'd be reluctant to consider, but there was likely a very small market for it overall, given their experience with similar poorly-faring ideas in their existing product lineup.

Consider that existing individual race cards have rather a bit of 'filler' in them (albeit different filler for different folks): races you're really not interested in from a bettor's point of view (though owners may sure want maiden 2YO and Turf sprints with 5 horses with guaranteed running prizes, and some tracks struggling to fill even 8 races a day). You could say that for the actually valuable races you get from buying 1 card now, it's over priced. However, paying for, say 4 cards to get 8 races where every race is one where your records show you have an edge - that cost of $1.50 x 4 = $6.00 (Regular plan) may be quite a bargain (and anyway, better than the printed DRF :D).

In fact, I'm not shy to say I hope it promotes more data sales - but at the same time much more value to the user.

Ted

Hi Ted,

As you know, I download from Trackmaster too, although not the same files as RDSS users, and because of what I do, I have to have the unlimited plan, but I thought I would throw my two cents in here anyway.

If an RDSS user plays and average of just one race card per day, they are spending $45 a month based on the rate of $1.50 per card.

I don't know the cost of of an "unlimited" plan for RDSS users, but it seems to me that the yardstick to measure with should be the cost of an "unlimited download plan" of the files they need for RDSS vs. the number of individual race cards they download in a month.

If the cost comes anywhere close, one should consider the "unlimited" plan. That way they can download as many race cards per month as they can handle, probably MORE than they can handle, for possibly something near the cost they are already incurring.:D

Just a thought.

[Ted Craven]

The breakeven (for the PP only plan) is 92 cards/month. Unlimited = $120/month. Otherwise, (except for pay-go @ $2.00 each) the first 20 cards costs $30 then the next 72 costs $1.25 each = $90 (+ $30 = $120). (Bundled Charts+PPs plan = 103 cards breakeven.)

Many folks don't download 92 cards / month. But if you got to work your edge more by focusing on races where you believe you have one, folks might download a bit more than they do now, though less than needed to justify Unlimited. Would depend on how many days/month and how many cards/day.

Hopefully, it all enhances the users' options. Some data providers offer only unlimited monthly options. Anyway, I've always thought that data costs are the smallest cost of this business/hobby.

Ted

[For The Lead]

The breakeven (for the PP only plan) is 92 cards/month. Unlimited = $120/month. Otherwise, (except for pay-go @ $2.00 each) the first 20 cards costs $30 then the next 72 costs $1.25 each = $90 (+ $30 = $120). (Bundled Charts+PPs plan = 103 cards breakeven.)

Many folks don't download 92 cards / month. But if you got to work your edge more by focusing on races where you believe you have one, folks might download a bit more than they do now, though less than needed to justify Unlimited. Would depend on how many days/month and how many cards/day.

Hopefully, it all enhances the users' options. Some data providers offer only unlimited monthly options. Anyway, I've always thought that data costs are the smallest cost of this business/hobby.

Ted

I have to agree with you, Ted. The more you have to choose from the better off you are.

[Ted Craven]

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20219