How did it get sunny in Philadelphia (parx)

[Bill V.]

Hello Ted

Every racing day I download Parx.
On the morning of July 15th I opened the race card summary and saw that races
6 and 7 were turf races so I added that info to my database
Now the only way I knew the races were turf races was from RDSS.



When I got to the track I found out both race 6 and 7 were taken off the turf
So I updated my database with TXD notation (Turf off Dirt )
However my RDSS downloaded card still shows and caluculates the race as on the turf,

College Bound won the 6th race It shows July 15th race 6 as Fast Dirt



Here is the weird thing, How come today on Oct 16th when I go back and open the July 15th card It now shows the race was on the dirt



Here is the results cart for te July 15th race 6 It says the race was taken off
the turf So here is my question At some point the RDSS card that i downloaded on July 15th is not the same card that I opened today
on Oct 16th . Is this correct ?

[Segwin]

I don't know enough about the data retrieval properties within RDSS Bill. My only guess would be that perhaps it updated itself sometime on July 15th, while you had it opened, without noticing it?

[Rverge]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVSRm80WzZk

[Ted Craven]

Bill,

It's a mystery! I would have said that TrackMaster NEVER updates the race card file after it is first published (i.e. replaces the initial file you may have downloaded with an updated version in which races are taken off the Turf).

I accept that the only way you could have thought that those races were originally on the Turf is if RDSS told you so. But looking at your July 15 screen - and checking my copy of the same file - shows no Turf races.

It seems rather implausible that PARX officials would have declared races off the Turf before the day of races - thus too late for TrackMaster to issue (or even want to bother with) updating the card. None the less, I will pose the question to them.

The only other solution I can think of is - you wrote down in your spreadsheet TXD (Taken off Turf) after you saw the Result Chart (and forgot you did it).

Otherwise, the current version of RDSS does not download Result Charts and update its database with that info (i.e. taken off turf). The only info in the RDSS database is what gets 'Converted' there by importing the PP file, OR - by changes you make manually to distance and surface (i.e. on the Card Summary screen by right-clicking the distance or Surface columns and editing them).

That's as far as I can figure out! I'll report back with whatever TrackMaster tells me (though it would surprise me if they said they reissued the PRX July 15 PP file with updated Off Turf changes ... )

Ted

[Bill V.]

Hi Ted

Thanks for taking the time for me.
I sent you a video of my database. In the video I show you many more days were this same problem happens, I hope it helps you with any further conversations with TM

I never knew you could change the surface and I don't see how I could have done it by mistake, And you know I download Parx everyday

anyway I hope the video helps you ,

twightlight.mp4

Here is a situation that is real strange On Aug 4th the last three races, race 7 a 8 and 9 were turf races

Race 7 was run on the turf but race 8 and 9 were taken off the turf
Yet RDSS only shows race 7 as on the turf

Here are the result charts and it shows the races were originally
scheduled for the turf How did RDSS know that 1 race would stay on and two would go off the turf

[Ted Craven]

Bill,

Thanks for the video! Actually, the answer came to me overnight, though it should have occurred to me from the outset.

The answer is - the RDSS database is being updated when you Convert subsequent PP cards. The next time a horse ran who ran in one of those taken off Turf (TXD) races on July 15 (for example), the PP info supplied by TrackMaster of course shows the correct surface and distance for those TXD races. So when RDSS puts that info in its database it puts the newly updated info over top of what was there originally. If a race was on Turf before, then taken off, RDSS marks it as Dirt - not 'Dirt taken off Turf' or TXD as you have shown in your record keeping.

Until a horse who ran in such a race runs again, RDSS will receive no updated data with which to change the original Surface info. So, for example, your Oct 15 races taken off Turf will contiinue to show as Turf in RDSS (unless you change them manually) until a horse from that race runs again - when the database will be updated with the correct surface.

This situation will continue until Result Charts are ready to be imported into RDSS - which I am working on now and presume to have finished by the end of the year.

Hope that's a good answer to the mystery. Awake over night (and in the shower) are great places to get solutions to problems!

Ted

[Bill V.]

This is also a cool feature

The 5th race at Parx on Sunday May 19th originally had a 6 horse field.





4 horses scratched out of the race. So the field size went down to a match race between Charlie Bull and Lemon Zing




Today when I was working on My database, I went to check how Charlie Bull
ran. RDSS updated the field size down to 2 horses