Enhanced live weather data is to be shared with horsemen, media and racing fans at home for the first time from Sandown Park Racecourse during the bet365 Classic Trial Day and bet365 Jump Finale this Friday and Saturday (April 23rd and 24th).
Delivered by TurfTrax via a dedicated page on The Jockey Club’s Sandown Park website, essential information including GoingStick readings, rainfall, wind speed and direction, soil moisture content and rails positions will be available on demand over the two days of racing.
Mike Maher, Managing Director of TurfTrax, said: “Sandown Park is an important addition to the growing portfolio of Jockey Club Racecourses using the WeatherTrax Live system.
“The combination of GoingStick readings and live weather data places an unprecedented amount of information at the disposal of the Clerk of the Course, which will be especially valuable to Andrew and his team given the unique nature of bet365 Classic trial day and the bet365 Jump finale when both the Flat and jumps courses need to be assessed and prepared individually but concurrently.”
Andrew Cooper, Regional Head of Racing for The Jockey Club’s London courses and Clerk of the Course at Sandown Park, said: “Accurate and up-to-date access to weather information is a vital part of any Clerk’s armoury, and at Sandown Park we are pleased to be able to share the data we use with other interested parties.”
At Sandown Park up to 151 separate grid locations in total are assessed using an electromechanical GoingStick, 83 on the Hurdle and Chase course and 68 on the Flat course. Three "penetration" and three "shear" measurements, representative of forces exerted by the horse’s hoof when it is on contact with the ground, are taken in each grid.
Volumetric soil moisture content data is also collected for major race meetings, meaning that around 300 scientifically generated measurements contribute to each Going Report produced.
Approximately 2.5 miles walking is required to cover each course and the process takes around 1 hour 30 minutes for each course. The detailed data is uploaded to a database and analysed alongside 15 years of live and historic weather and going data before the report is published.
Live meteorological data is streamed from WeatherTrax equipment located at the entrance of the back straight close to the 1m 2f Flat start. The data is logged every minute 24 hours a day and typically refreshes every five minutes on the App.
Every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of this data, but values presented can differ from forecast predictions and automatically or manually recorded weather data at nearby locations. Recorded weather data can be dependent on a number of factors including type of sensors used, methodology, height and positioning of sensing equipment and specific timing of updates.
ABOUT TURFTRAX
TurfTrax is a global leader in the design and implementation of innovative data products for the horseracing industry, combining data to create knowledge and insight for the industry.
The British Horseracing Authority rules require every racecourse in Great Britain to use the TurfTrax GoingStick. The company also installs and operates Going Mapping and Weather Systems and its international customers include, France Galop, Deutscher Galopp, Dubai Racing Club, Saudi Cup, Breeders Cup, California Horseracing Board, Churchill Downs Inc., New York Racing Association, Woodbine Ent. Group, Hong Kong Jockey Club, The Australian Turf Club, Racing Victoria, Racing Queensland and Racing and Wagering Western Australia.
