Researching Horse Racing Data to Create Snapshots

Now that you know how to create snapshots you are probably wondering what it is you should be creating. There are two resources you can use for this.

Stats Section
The stats section will be the sire, trainer stats pages etc. Use this information to analyse a particular sire or trainer and find where they do best. All you have to do is to view a name and view the stats. Once you have found a profitable angle just snapshot it.

You have to be careful not to backfit the data though as all you will be finding in the future is fool's gold. Backfitting stats to find profitable angles is like shooting an arrow at a tree and painting a target around it. You think you got the bullseye but you cheated yourself.

In order to avoid backfitting you have to justify every rule and filter. Think why a rule of filter should be used. If you can find a valid, logical reason then it is probably fine to use it. If you cannot then do not use it.

Here's some examples which are worth exploring. Go to the relevant stats page, search the name and select the filter:

• Trainer M A Jarvis First Run of the Year
  Jarvis has a great record with runners having their first run of the year. He may not have the same quantity as Stoute but he is as profitable. Search for Jarvis and then tick the 'First Run of the Year' box in the Horse Last Ran field.
• Trainer Sir Mark Prescott 'form horses'
  Prescott likes to rattle up a sequence of wins when a horse is hot. Take a look at his runners who have had three good runs from their last three races. Search for Prescott and then set the form to show Good Runs: 3 to 3. Try seeing if his record with form horses is better on turf or all weather.
• Sire Rainbow Quest 12f
  This sire is one of the best around for mile and a half races. Champion sire Sadler's Wells may have had more 12f winners than Rainbow Quest but he does not enjoy the same high strike rate and ROI. Search for Rainbow Quest and set the distance from 12f to 12f.

If you have a favourite trainer, sire or jockey use the snapshot feature to save reports which show where they are best at.

Tables Section
The Flatstats tables are great at finding a list of names who specialise in a particular area. Rather than just examine the results of say one trainer the tables will rank each trainer by their record. This is really useful for ranking trainers by, for example, first time out runners, or sires by distance or going etc.

You can access the tables by using the left hand menu. Click the link and then locate the Advanced section (feature only visible to subscribers). Select a type of report, choose your race criteria and click Go to see a list of the best to worst for that type of race.

e.g. to find out which trainers are the most profitable with first time out runners choose these options:

1. Change the Item to Trainers
2. Change the sort by option to ROI% (this will rank by profit)
3. Scroll down to the Horse Details->Last Ran section and click the link First Time Out
4. Click Go to see the report

Currently the report shows that David Barron is one of the most profitable trainers for first time out runners on the flat turf.

Once you have generated a report you can click each name on the list and be taken to the relevant stats page and see the name loaded up. e.g. if you click T D Barron at the top of this report a new page will open up with T D Barron trainer loaded. One thing you will have to do is to change the form to first time out again. Once you have done that you can generate the individual trainer report and snapshot it.

Note that you can also use this table report for finding decent lays. If you scroll down the bottom of the table report you will find those trainers who return the biggest loss for first time out runners. Currently the worst trainers for first time out runners include Willie Jarvis, John Hills, Nick Littmoden, and Michael Bell.

Here's some more examples which are worth exploring using the tables section.

• Trainers for Group races
  Reload the form and set it up for Trainers, ROI% (check the strike rate and A/E too if you wish) and then change the Class Range from Group 1 to Group 3. Make note of which trainers are the best for these high class races.
• Jockeys on Heavy Going
  Change the form to Jockeys and set the going to Heavy only by removing the tick for all other goings except heavy. Some of the best jockeys include Paul Hanagan, Neil Callan and Robert Winston. At the bottom of the table notice Kieren Fallon. Most punters assume he's a strong, top jockey in all conditions but he is one to look for laying on heavy going.
• Sires of 2yo's
  Change the form to Sires and set the age range to 2yo. Click Go to see the best and worst sires for 2yo's

Remember that it is worthwile looking at the bottom of each table to find those who are the worst for a particular condition. Once you have identified those who are weak you can snapshot their data and use as a basis for laying on the exchanges.

Note that if the report does not generate any data, or only displays a few names in the list you may need to lower the threshold for inclusion in the report. The default is 100 which means that the item must have had at least 100 runs under that condition to be included in the report. To see more names either lower the threshold or broaden your filters. e.g. rather than look at just Heavy going try looking at Soft and Heavy.

Manual Snapshots

Manual snapshots are used when no report contains criteria which you would like to analyse. This would be where you have non standard rules for a system such as jockey is riding the top weight, a horse has had 5 or more wins on the going, or sire has pareto status etc.

Please note that manual requests take some time to process so it is advisable to try and use the stats page snapshots first.

Related Articles and Resources

• Horse Racing Alerts Guide

Article created 1-Jun-06. Stats may have changed since.