Homework

No, I hate to have to do this...

Especially as I believe that it is half term in the UK but,

With the changes coming up as regards the Speed Ratings,

I have to give you some homework!

I ought to say that if you are happy with the current ratings then please feel free to continue to use them.

However, the inclusion of the Speed Ratings on the morning ratings PDF does mean that I have to change the format of that PDF.

And, if you want to use the new ratings PDF then you'll have to have a think about how the changes might affect you.

Race Codes

Before I go on, I need to let you know that, at this point, I am only interested in producing Speed Ratings for AW and Flat races. The AW races will come first and then will soon be followed by the Flat.

Hopefully, in time for the start of the Flat season.

I shall do some analysis to see if it is possible (using my methods) to produce accurate speed ratings for the National Hunt races.

I have a feeling that it won't be possible but I'll give it my best shot.

Initially I shall be showing the speed ratings for both the AW and the Flat on the new PDF.

If this isn't of any help to us then I shall only display the ratings for the current code for each race.

That will free up some space for any new things that I come up with (or you ask for.)

New Format PDF

Initially, there will be three versions of the new format PDF.

1). The PDF that shows the top three horses in all races whether I could previously rate that race or not.

2). The PDF that shows the top three horses in all races that I could previously rate.

3). The PDF that shows all the horses in all races whether I could previously rate that race (or those horses) or not.

You may see today's ratings in format 1 here... Sample PDF file

The explanation of all the columns can be found here... New format ratings manual

Now, the sample ratings file doesn't actually have the speed ratings in them; I just wanted to share what it would look like.

And, I shall be doing a graphical Cheat Sheet without all the waffle that I put into the New format ratings manual.

It just might take a few days.

A gratuitous animated GIF

Now, a post by me wouldn't be a post by me unless it included a totally gratuitous animated GIF.

So, here goes...

If the upcoming changes are confusing you...

Just bang your head on a handy wooden box!

I do it all the time and it works wonders for me!

And...

If things aren't going so well,

I then take out my frustration on my car!

I'm not sure that my car enjoys it so much but it certainly helps me a lot!

I do, however, have a sneaky suspicion that there might be a statistical correlation between my thrashing my car and it's frequent refusal to start.

I may have to write some code to investigate that.

Conclusion...

Whilst I'm always interested in your ideas, I am getting to the point where I need to finalise the code and come up with something that we can all live with for the next year or so.

You might think that it is strange that I am intending to show the ratings for both the AW and the Flat (as some horses don't cross over) but it'll help me understand better what relationship (if any) there is between the two codes.

It may well be that, in six months time, we end up with just one column for the speed ratings and you'll take it for granted that those ratings were only derived from results in the relevant code.

None of what I've just said is cast in stone but...

I'm getting very close to the point where it will have to be.

Oh, one last thing...

If the New format ratings manual. seems a bit patronising, please bear in mind that it is written partially for people who are new to Focus Ratings; you guys know all that stuff anyway.

As always, your thoughts and comments are very welcome.

My kindest regards