Punters are the biggest winners from one of the new initiatives launched by Harness Racing New South Wales with the posting of individual sectional times for all runners at TAB meetings across the state. The new tool will also be important for trainers and owners as they will be able to statistically gauge their horse’s performance in a particular race.
HRNSW Chief Operating Officer Reid Sanders believes the posting of every horse’s sectional time on www.harnessmediacentre.com.au will be well received by the industry.
“We receive a lot of feedback from all different parts of the industry about how to improve aspects of it and providing 800, 600 and 400 metre splits for every runner in a race is something that people have been screaming out for,” Sanders said.
“There is more to the statistical data than that, HRNSW is also providing information including distance from the leader at the half and how wide the horse was at the 800 and 400 metre marks.”
Currently Shane Tritton is the leading trainer in New South Wales and he confirmed he constantly refers to the sectional times to work out whether a horse has performed to its usual standard or not.
“Sometimes as a trainer you get lost in a horse’s performance when it is beaten despite working well in the lead up to an event but this new information allows me to assess a run on its merits,” Tritton said.
“It certainly assists me and it also allows me to weigh up runs from different horses at the same meeting when track and weather conditions are similar, it is something I am using a lot and I know a lot of other trainers are using as well.”
To access the new information log onto www.harnessmediacentre.com.au and click onto the ‘racing’ tab. The sectional times link is one of the options on the ‘stewards’ menu.
Or click on the following link http://www.harnessmediacentre.com.au/racing/stewards/sectionaltimes
Some of the star performers on the clock at recent meetings include:
Bathurst Saturday March 28 – Only two year olds broke 56 seconds for their final half at the Gold Crown meeting. Cherry Mahoney ran fifth in the Gold Tiara but ran the fastest last half of any two year old at the meeting with an impressive 55.33 split while Time Keepa Lombo ran 55.73 winning the Gold Crown consolation.
Menangle Friday March 27 – Condagen recorded a fast last half breaking 54 seconds in coming from well back to finish second behind Elrama in race one. Liberalitus finished third in race three and ran 39.88 for its final 600 metres and was the only horse to break 40 seconds on the night.
Newcastle March 26 – Fountain Lakes won by three metres in the first but the sectionals tell the story. She ran the final 800 metres in 56.27 and was the only runner at the meeting that raced over the 2030 metres to break 57 seconds for the final 800 and was off the pegs.
Another new resource that is also available via the Harness Media Centre is ‘Follow Up Reports’. While stewards’ reports have been available online to interested parties, the ‘follow up report’ will give NSW stewards the opportunity to brief the industry on information pertaining to particular horses, events or meetings after they have concluded.
A Follow Up Report on Bathurst Gold Crown favourite Bettermatch has been posted after trainer Colin Thomas reported to stewards the two year old was showing no ill effects from his run on Saturday night after returning to his Leeton stable.
“Sometimes stewards will have inquiries into incidents that may not be finalised for a week or two and while the results are published in later reports they can be lost in all of the racing information,” Sanders said.
“It will give readers the opportunity to log onto the website and go to one area to get all of the follow up information.”
The follow up reports can be found on the stewards menu under the racing tab at www.harnessmediacentre.com.au
Or click on the following link http://www.harnessmediacentre.com.au/racing/stewards/followupreports
Harness Racing NSW (HRNSW) is the controlling body for harness racing in New South Wales with responsibility for commercial and regulatory management of the industry including 31 racing clubs across the State. HRNSW is headed by an industry-appointed Board of Directors and is independent of Government.
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To arrange an interview or for further information please contact:
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Name:
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Greg Hayes
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Position:
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Media Co-ordinator
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Phone:
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(02) 9722 6600
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Email:
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ghayes@hrnsw.com.au
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