Racing - Systems .co.uk

SPEED RATINGS PROGRAM

From

SIMPLE SOFTWARE

The Simple Software computer programme is an analysis tool that produces speed rating for horses. These rating can be used to identify "fast" horses quite often at good prices.

The origin of the programme is a set of complex mathematical formulae first published in David Towey's 1993 book "The Solidus".

There was a problem with the original formulae. Most users found the heavy mathematics required to operate them too laborious and time consuming.

Good news however in  that computer power  now over comes this problem. The hundreds of calculations used to compile daily speed ratings can be done with little more than the click of a mouse.

Mick Johnston who runs Simple Software explained that the basis of the program is to try and look at the previous form of horses from an even view point.

Each course in the UK has it's own characteristics.The program looks at past performances and applies factors to account for the course at which the time recorded took place.

Further analysis is carried out for distance, going weight carried and handicap mark. The aim being to account for the effects of all these variables so that horses can be compared on a like for like basis.

The database behind the software contains all the previous results for the UK courses since 1994.

To assess a future race information about the runners is required to be input. The new weight carried etc. The program then generates a set off speed figures which theoretically should predict the outcome of the race.

Once you have the program it is possible to manually update results   and enter details of the various days runners. Several users who concentrate on   particular race types do just that.

The majority of users however take advantage of email updates. These contain a file with details of the latest  results and the runners declared  for the coming day. A couple of clicks of a mouse and you can have your database updated and your speed figures generated the evening before racing.

The charge for daily email updates is a very reasonable £9.99 per month. A lot cheaper than buying the Racing Post each day.

The big question of course is do the ratings produce a profit?

Mick Johnston tells me that simply backing every top rated selection will produce a long term profit. However most users will obviously not back a horse in every race of the day.

To reduce the number of bets and increase profitability it may make sense to perhaps only back selections where there is a very clear advantage indicated.

A users forum is operational on the net. Here users of the speed rating software can discus different ways and systems to make most profitable use of the speed figures generated. When I popped in there was a posting from one happy member telling others of how he was achieving a strike rate of 50% and average odds of 9/4. This if repeatable is pretty good in my book.

The programme will produce ratings for the whole days card highlighting any horses that are rated significantly above others in the same race. The majority of members base their betting decisions around these figures.

However there are also features for advanced users which allow queries to be run on the past database of results. The idea being to identify profitable patterns. The advanced features are a little complex to master and require a knowledge of the SQL programming  language to fully exploit them.

Within the users forum however there appear to be a few SQL experts who might be willing to lend a hand. Personally I would like to see a future update with a more user friendly  interface to the advanced query features.

That said I do not want to take away from what is there at present. A very useful analysis tool which can be used to give you the edge required to make profits. Pretty dangerous in the right hands.

The best thing about this software is that it is available FREE.  for you to try out and judge for your self. A full working copy of the software including the results database will be sent to you by post on  CD ROM. Due to the vast amount of information contained in the database downloading is not feasible.

As a special bonus if you  apply through Racing-Systems,  you will receive  two weeks of email data updates for free. This will give you plenty of time to fully examine the software and  judge it for your self over two weeks racing .

To receive your free copy so that you can start generating your own ratings simply enter you details below and press "Send". Take care entering your email address to ensure that the free data updates arrive in the right hands.