Equibase Company - Thoroughbred Racing Information

Mountain View, California - TrackMaster, a leading provider of electronic handicapping and past performance information, today announced the release of newly enhanced speed ratings for harness racing, which will now include a post position adjustment factor.

This factor is used to adjust a horse’s speed rating based on the advantage or disadvantage the post had on its overall performance in the race. This makes it possible to see a second place finisher have a slightly higher speed rating than a horse that finished first if that winner had a favorable post and the runner up was raced from less advantageous spot behind the gate.

"After studying many races and understanding the huge affect post position has in harness racing, it made complete sense to add a post position adjustment factor to complement our speed ratings,” said David Siegel, president of TrackMaster. “Many harness racing observers feel they are a significantly more accurate depiction of a horse’s true performance in the race."

Also new and improved are the harness racing pace ratings, or in other terms, speed ratings broken down by each fraction of the race. These speed ratings have been greatly improved with the advent of an improved fractional track variant, customized for each and every track. These figures are calculated when the information is made available and also include the afore mentioned post position adjustment factor.

"Pace is a very important handicapping factor most often overlooked by many players," said Greg Robinson, harness racing product manager at TrackMaster. “If you are able to analyze how horses race along different parts of the mile, you can better predict how races in the future might set up and which horses may be in the best positions to win.”

The newly enhanced speed ratings are currently being published in all TrackMaster products, including Past Performances and Platinum Plus Programs. Detailed pace ratings can be found, where available, in the powerful handicapping software TrackMaster Plus or as an averaged statistic in Platinum Plus Programs.

TrackMaster, a wholly owned subsidiary of Equibase Company LLC, provides a full range of handicapping products for the three major racing breeds - Thoroughbred, American Quarter Horse and Standardbred. Equibase Company LLC is a partnership between The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America (TRA) and serves as the Thoroughbred industry's Official database for racing information and statistics.