results | Horse Racing Free Tips

Equibase Adds Results Charts Featuring GPS Data

Equibase Company, the Thoroughbred industry's official database for racing information, today announced the addition of result charts that include data collected from global positioning satellite (GPS) systems.

“After many years of evaluating GPS to deliver expanded data, Equibase is pleased to be successfully leveraging this technology for racing,” said Sal Sinatra, president and chief operating officer for Equibase. “GPS technology provides comprehensive data for each horse during the entire running of a race, and we are excited to now be able to provide this rich data on the website.”

During the running of the race, the GPS system collects a comprehensive data set every half second for every horse in the race. The charts will enable users to see this data at the traditional points of call, as well as at one-sixteenth-mile intervals. In addition to traditional information such as lengths ahead and lengths behind, data such as each horse's sectional and cumulative time, average speed, number of strides, average stride length, and average strides per second are included in each GPS chart.

The new GPS charts are free for registered users of equibase.com and can be found next to the traditional result charts for each track utilizing the automated tracking technology.

Equibase has GPS systems in place at Canterbury Park, Colonial Downs, Del Mar, Golden Gate Fields, Hollywood Gaming at Mahoning Valley Race Course, Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course, Kentucky Downs, Laurel Park, Monmouth Park, Oaklawn Park, Pimlico, Sam Houston, Tampa Bay Downs, and Woodbine Racetrack.

GPS systems are also installed at two harness facilities – the Meadowlands and Woodbine Mohawk Park. Equibase's GPS technology partner, Total Performance Data, is based in the United Kingdom and has more than a dozen tracking systems deployed there, in addition to the U.S. installations.

Additionally, the comprehensive data collected by GPS for each runner during the running of the race can be used to drive on-screen graphics. A number of the tracks listed above are utilizing the technology for their graphics. In addition, several other tracks use the GPS data feed to depict graphics through a third-party vendor.

Equibase Company is a partnership between subsidiaries of The Jockey Club and the Thoroughbred Racing Associations of North America and serves as the Thoroughbred industry's official database. Through its website and mobile applications, Equibase offers a comprehensive array of free statistical information as well as premium handicapping products and reports in support of the North American Thoroughbred racing industry.

The post Equibase Adds Results Charts Featuring GPS Data appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

Source of original post

Opinion: Dismissing Research Can Be Harmful To Horses

Though it can seem like some studies that are done repeat a foregone conclusion, it's important not to dismiss them as a known quantity. Some equine enthusiasts don't hesitate to express their feelings that an institution is “wasting” funds researching a topic they feel no longer needs to be examined.

Often this blatant dismissal of research indicates that the person doesn't truly understand how scientific research is done. In the long term, this mindset can end up hurting horses. Researchers design their studies so that any other group can conduct the same research and have the same results. This confirms the conclusions that were drawn.

It's important to scientifically confirm what is “known,” as sometimes what is known is wrong—even when it's common practice, reports EQUUS. Withholding water from hot horses was common until research was completed for the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, which showed that, though often done, not allowing horses to drink after exercise was harmful to them.

Even if research confirms observations made by horse owners, it's still valuable–it increases the body of knowledge available. Studies collect data that can be used to better understand an issue and form the basis for more research—which can lead to better diagnosis and treatments, a win for both horses and their owners.

What Does ‘Statistically Significant’ Actually Mean?

You've most likely heard or read the term “statistically significant” numerous times in your life. What does that actually mean and how do we determine if something is significant or not?

In the most basic form, statistically significant means something that is not due to random variability (not attributed to chance).

If we want to get technical, statistical significance is all about the determination of the null hypothesis. The null hypothesis is the hypothesis that there is no significant difference between specified populations, any observed difference is due to sampling or experimental error. By performing hypothesis testing, you get a result known as the p-value, which is the probability of observing extreme results in the data you have collected. A p-value of 5% or lower is typically considered to be statistically significant.

What does this mean for the veterinary and horse communities?

By measuring the relationship between multiple variables (i.e. new diet vs. standard diet, vaccine vs. no vaccine, etc.), this allows us to establish the likelihood that an outcome is caused by what we are studying instead of just randomly happening. This means we can determine if something is actually working better than leaving things alone. Nutritionists do this all the time when testing new rations; pharmaceutical companies do this when testing new drugs or vaccines. Veterinarians, and more likely research scientists, may use this to determine if a new type of surgery or expensive treatment is worthwhile.

How does it work?

While knowing how to perform these tests is important for researchers, from a practical standpoint remember two important factors: sampling error and probability. There is always the possibility that differences you see when measuring a sample are just the result of random variability (“background noise”) or just dumb luck. This is sampling error. Probability is just that, the likelihood of something actually happening. The higher the probability of a specific event or outcome, the more likely it is to happen. However, remember that while you may have a high probability, you cannot guarantee certainty.

The use of a p-value of 5%, written as p < 0.05, the most commonly chosen value, means we are looking at a 5% likelihood of something happening by chance alone (i.e. a one in 20 chance of that being the result). That means that whatever we are looking at statistically, the results are 95% due to what we are testing, be that a new drug, vaccine, treatment or surgery.

The take home message

Once testing and analysis are complete, a p-value that is low indicates a statistically significant difference. However, that does not mean the difference will automatically be important or useful. For practical significance (i.e. noteworthy), we need to determine if the difference is large enough to actually be meaningful. A relatively large difference would be useful and practical. A small difference might not be worth the effort or cost for only a small impact. This can cause issues with regard to the interpretation of results and what decisions to make based on the data. We will be discussing these issues and concerns in future stories in this publication, so watch for our future articles.

Stall-Side Test For Equine Disease May Assist With COVID-19 Detection

Scientists have discovered a way to use a cell phone's camera to detect respiratory diseases like equine influenza in horses; that same technology could help identify COVID-19 in humans. These easily spread diseases can cause large death tolls, as well as economic loss and disruption of daily life.

One complication to slowing the spread of diseases like these are the is the lack of widely available testing that can offer speedy and accurate results, reports The Horse. This means that communities are unable to make informed recommendations regarding quarantines that can help control the spread of the disease.

Early diagnosis of disease, whether in horses or humans, is key to controlling the spread of disease, notes Dr. Brian Cunningham, an electrical and computer engineering professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. If obtaining results takes days, whether because of a backlog of samples or lab closures because of holidays, the virus has already spread before a positive result is even given. Adding to the potential delay in diagnosis and implementation of control strategies is that some affected patients may have more than one disease.

Cunningham has developed a testing technique for a variety of equine respiratory pathogens, including Streptococcus equi, EHV-1 and EHV-4, and equine influenza. The test uses nasal swabs to detect viral RNA, which is converted to DNA and then amplified in compartments on a silicon chip. Each compartment on the chip can be used to test for a different virus. The chemical reaction it produces replicates billions of copies of the original viral nucleic acid sequence. Fluorescent markers bind to the DNA during amplification, which can be seen on smartphone cameras as green light.

The entire test takes about 30 minutes and can be done stall side, eliminating the need to send samples to a lab and wait, possibly days, for results. With modification, the test could also be used to detect contagious human respiratory viruses like COVID-19.