Activist Punter
… organizes complaints online about the going over UK turf courses, accuses tracks of misleading readings, gains support. Progress lies ahead, reports the Guardian:
“This is very much an issue that is being looked at,” Paul Struthers, of the BHA, said yesterday. “The problem is that to be able to make realistic comparisons between GoingStick readings at different tracks, we need to compile sufficient data. At the end of this year, we will have two full years’ of readings, which should enable us to do just that.
“Use of the GoingStick will be required at all tracks from January 1, when we would also hope to encourage clerks to take readings much closer to racing, which could be published on our website.”
This goes back to our conversation on Monday, neatly demonstrating how technology has changed the relationship between racing and its fans by giving people an easy way to connect, wherever they might be, whatever the issue …
This Is Key
From the transcript (PDF) of the HTA/TRA joint meeting “Racing and New Technologies” panel comes this key insight from Eric Wing of the NTRA:
I think the goal should be to use the technology, not to make the bet simpler or to bet more money, but to bring the passion back into the game.
Absolutely, and here’s a good place to start figuring out how to accomplish that.
About
Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
Elsewhere
Find Jessica on Pinboard and Instagram, Railbird on LibraryThing and Twitter.
Etc.
Links
Search
Boston Racing
Spreadsheets/Data
← Home
Copyright © 2000-2023 by Jessica Chapel. All rights reserved.