JC / Railbird

Trends

Digital Trends

From Thoroughbred Times, at the 2010 Keeneland September sale:

Since every sales company’s catalogs, including Keeneland’s, have been available in portable document format (PDF) online for several years, it has long been possible to download entire catalogs to computers, but Apple Inc.’s new iPad as well as other tablet computers offer new possibilities to anyone who might feel overburdened by the burgeoning tools of the Thoroughbred trade….

“It improves the workflow,” Sonbol continued. “Before, I had to wait on all these paper reports, people looking at horses, vet reports. With this and the internet you can get everything updated on the go. I have my own private database as well, and it links to a server system so you can really speed up your workflow.”

From Sports Business Journal, on advances in player analysis:

Arguably the most dramatic advance within player analysis has not been within the number crunching itself, but the ability to take the research anywhere and access it through a simple touchscreen. Apple’s iPad tablet device, which sold more than 3 million units in just 90 days following its April debut, is now a must-have business tool for dozens of GMs across the major sports leagues.

“The iPad has been huge for us,” said Jed Hoyer, Padres general manager. The club’s work with TruMedia, which features iPad functionality in its analytics system, derived from Boston, where both Hoyer and TruMedia Chief Executive Rafe Anderson previously worked together for the Red Sox. “You’re really not going to carry a laptop into the ballpark, so having the wealth of data right at your fingertips is a huge convenience, certainly while you’re on the road.”

The data-everywhere trend is only going to extend to sports consumers.

Equibase, which has started taking seriously growing demand for mobile content, earlier this week added the Racing Yearbook, which first appeared earlier this month as an iPhone app, to its website. The online Yearbook includes charts for the year’s graded stakes, replays, and horse profiles, and while it’s not quite Racing Post breezy to use (you can’t click on horse’s name in a chart to get to a profile, for instance), it is a nice step forward in making more racing information available.

Posted in Industry on September 29, 2010 / Tagged Apps, Data, Equibase, iPad, Mobile, Racing Yearbook, Statistics, Technology, Trends

Get Used to It

Jay Hovdey:

Welcome to the bizarre, through-the-looking-glass world in which talented horses and their conflicted owners and trainers try to do business these days. As domestic prizes continue to contract, massive international purses still dangle on the distant horizons. Even the most timid practitioners of the Thoroughbred sport are tempted to fling inhibitions to the wind and fly to the far corners of the racing globe.

In five years, this trend won’t seem bizarre, but inevitable. We’re witnessing the emergence of an elite international racing circuit that runs from Royal Ascot to the Dubai World Cup, with stops in America, Australia, France, Hong Kong, and Japan on the schedule between.

Posted in Racing on June 26, 2010 / Tagged Breeders' Cup, Dubai World Cup, Frequent Flyers, International, Royal Ascot, Trends