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Old 06-28-2016, 05:43 PM   #1
Ted Craven
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Turf Timing at Woodbine

I received the following email from Tim Yatcak, a former member here, who also works on the camera crew at Woodbine and has some inside knowledge of goings on there. I have no independent information on this topic, so pending further information, I accept it at face value:

Teletimer LOST the contract for timing. ONLY they had sensors set meticulously around the track that exactly compensated for what lane the horse were running in, even to the point of re-locating the 1/8th poles dependent upon the lane.NONE of them are active currently. Times recorded that way have been consistent to hand timings for years.

I would NOT trust turf times whatsoever and it is NOT because Woodbine has been lax. Woodbine was the first North American track to install Trakus and at that time, the system was their first prototype with sort of an "experimental" electronic layout grid that has not been re-calibrated with any regularity since the thing was installed as it was NEVER meant to be the TIme standard.

They have jokingly said, the same error (or close to it) is there for all the domestic turfers, just watch out when comparing shippers. Now that Fort Erie has taken up the turf for lower claimer horses, many of those may come back later in the year to add to the confusion, as they use electronic bean timing FAR MORE accurate. .

Radio waves from the horse's transmitter have to go from the horse's flank to the central computer on site, and then ALL the way to Boston before the operator gets to see them. Remember these evaluations are VELOCITY based, so, as we saw all Winter in the standardbreds, faster closing horses were often reported as being 2nd when the PHOTO showed them 4th because of their FASTER final velocity. Also weak batteries on the transmitter, radio beams bouncing and an interruption of the info that occurs as the horses come from the clubhouse turn and pass the 6 7 furlong chute, where there is a HOLE in the data, all add to the errors.

Greg, the Teletimer clocker now does all races hand times along with the Equibase clocker and they compare their times to the Trakus. They are off sometimes upward of 3 second especially in the first fraction. It is however irregular irregularity race to race.

BIG problem same with Gulfstream
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Old 06-29-2016, 02:10 AM   #2
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I concur with that, i was finding 3 to 4 second discrepancies between the onscreen times and the charts. I was left scratching my head when the onscreen call times were slower than the Tapeta surface. I also noticed the void when the horses passed through the 7F chute, i figured it was the giant barns that are located there, and were interrupting the signal, or the hand timer lost visual reference because of the obstruction.

The big question is, what are they going to do about it?

I have been leaning towards using last year’s Poly lines when making my line selections (when available) in Turf races, but this is not acceptable. The track is willing to waste money on that horrible band Hedley on Queen's Plate day, but they are nickel and diming when it comes to the proper timing of races.
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Old 06-29-2016, 07:14 AM   #3
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Excellent point on the band Hoof11. Only solution is to not play their turf races and when the handle drops they'll get the message.
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Old 06-29-2016, 10:57 AM   #4
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Ted-

Can we clarify that this is just an issue with the Turf races at woodbine?
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Old 06-29-2016, 11:41 AM   #5
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Ryan, that was my take on the information - only Turf timing.

However, Tim Y has a link to this thread and I'll presume he's checking in occasionally. I'll let him reply (e.g. to me) if there's any comment about main track timing.

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Old 06-29-2016, 11:44 AM   #6
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Thanks Ted
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Old 06-29-2016, 04:16 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryan.p.coli View Post
Ted-

Can we clarify that this is just an issue with the Turf races at woodbine?
From Tim Y:
'no one whom I have talked to has complained about times on the main course.'
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Old 06-30-2016, 02:55 AM   #8
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I don’t know if Woodbine reads this forum, or my scathing email got them off their ass, but the Turf timing was flawless tonight onscreen during the races. The chicklets and the course graph functioned beautifully with no flaws to report, let’s hope this continues and we can put this behind us.

Something tells me that they got their act together seeing that it's the Plate weekend.
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Old 06-30-2016, 08:57 AM   #9
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An email from Tim Y:

I re-read my note and I am afraid it painted a picture that is far worse than is really at hand. SURE there are discrepancies between the back up hand timed grass races and Trakus, but CONSISTENCY between the various hand times. Every track initiates that safety valve when needed.
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Old 06-30-2016, 09:10 AM   #10
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Just FWIW, I don't want to be a 'messenger' for Tim's comments beyond a certain (still interesting and valuable) point. I.e I can't get into a debate by proxy lest I become schizophrenic (or bored) . But since Tim works at Woodbine, and appears to have regular contact with operations staff and others, I find the issues of timing - or perhaps, working out the kinks in Turf timing - valuable and so far worthy of the time spent relaying messages.

I am passing them along without editorial. Hoof - either Woodbine reads this thread and/or your emails, or Tim's latest comments above apply, or there was always an ongoing process rounding towards best possible accuracy (or all of the above).

As for 'Headley' band, well it looks like it was first announced May 3 and was surely in negotiation before then (and likely before opening day) - and the costs were set before whatever Turf timing issues (and costs to remedy) may have been noticed for the 2016 season. I do know who Beyonce and Radiohead are, but I'm not sure who Headley is. I do miss Stompin' Tom though ...

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