Equibase publishing charts using GPS data

Equibase has begun publishing charts that are produced using data collected by GPS systems in use at more than a dozen U.S. racetracks, the company announced Friday.

The charts, which are being published on Equibase’s website alongside the traditional charts, are produced using data collected by the GPS-based systems, which are designed and administered by Total Performance Data, a United Kingdom-based company. Equibase, which is owned by a partnership between racetracks and The Jockey Club, has been installing the systems at tracks over the past several years and testing the collection and publication of data.

Equibase said in a press release that the GPS-based charts will offer data on every horse at each traditional point of call in a race and at every sixteenth of a mile in a race. Additional data available through the GPS system will include each horse’s sectional time, cumulative time, average speed, number of strides, average stride length, and average strides per second, Equibase said.

The GPS data is likely to be marketed to past-performance producers in order to generate new tools for assessing races. Similar products were introduced after Trakus began collecting data through a system similar to GPS more than a decade ago.

“After many years of evaluating GPS to deliver expanded data, Equibase is pleased to be successfully leveraging this technology for racing,” said Sal Sinatra, who was hired as the president and chief operating officer of Equibase earlier this year. “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.”

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

Daily Racing Form purchases data from Equibase in order to generate its past-performance products.