Jockey Club set to release handle-projection software

A racing-office software tool allowing tracks to project handle based on the post times of their races is ready to be released to U.S. racetracks, the developer of the tool, The Jockey Club, said on Friday.

The tool will be made available to all U.S. racetracks free of charge, The Jockey Club said. The tool has already been in use at 10 racetracks since last fall, as part of a trial monitored by The Jockey Club.
Development of the tool grew out of a 2011 report commissioned by The Jockey Club that recommended tracks avoid overlapping post times to maximize handle. The report had said that handle in the simulcast market was highly dependent on the proximity of a race to another race.

The tool allows racing office personnel to enter in post times for races on its card and compare the post times with other races already scheduled at racetracks. An analytic tool then generates a projection for how handle will change if the post time is changed, while factoring in other variables, such as field size and the conditions of the race.

The Jockey Club’s subsidiary InCompass developed the tool as part of its racing-office software suite. The software is in use at nearly every track in the United States.