Well thats that, the festival is over and the real winner was no doubt the bookies. Saying that though any horse racing fan although disappointed with some of the outcomes can not be anything other than delighted with the action we saw.
It was literally one cracking race after another. From a punting perspective with so many high profile losers it came down to getting a few higher priced ones up and you would probably be up. I got lucky on a couple of outsiders so it wasnt too bad for me personally.
I was at Cheltenham for Gold Cup day and although its packed and going to the loo or buying a pint is an ordeal its a day id recommend to anyone. Absolutely fantastic spectacle and experience.
With all the hype on Denman and Kauto it was of course Imperial Commander who ended up winning and it must be said quite convincingly. The sighs and groans, oohs and aahs from the crowd as the horses jumped round were really something that stick with you. Everyone there was living every moment. Kautos fall brought tears to the eyes of a guy near me, who then proceeded to just sit down and look in disbelief. It was weird.
Personally my betting does not increase just because its Cheltenham, i view everything as equal and its either a betting opportunity or its not - just because its high profile doesnt mean you should change your approach and risk going broke!
The site is moving along ok. We're still working ridiculous hours on some ongoing projects but we are making some nice progress. Over the next few months you will see a number of new features, improvements and a new styling to help navigation and presentation.
The feedback form has worked well and plenty of you have suggested things, many of which we have added already and others in progress.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Onwards and upwards
A pretty boring few days if im honest as it feels like all i was doing was transferring files, waiting, testing, reloading, testing again and so on.
But its now done and we have successfully added 19 new categories to the builder as well as improving the options on another couple.
The placings categories now allow you to specify 'No Prev Run' which was a common member request and can be useful in queries. We also extened the distance beaten and distance won ranges for more flexibility.
The new categories include 1 year form stats for jockeys and trainers, statistics on horse performance in National Hunt Handicap sphere and some nice new criteria ranges such as the position in Prize Money won, Decimal Points ahead of next runner and position of age in the race for each horse (ie youngest, oldest etc).
All in all, were delighted to have this done as it means we can begin to move along many other issues which have been on hold.
Of course Cheltenham is on the way and this causes great excitement to all of us involved with horse racing. The focus in all the papers is on Denman v Kauto and its great for horse racing as even my family members with no interest in horse racing are all of a sudden asking questions.
As ive always said, racing needs these types of characters and stories to really highlight the good side of the sport. That said, im still a little disappointed more hasnt been done to really maximise the potential of getting horse racing on the front pages, although i see Harry Findlay and Clive Smith were out and about doing there bit which is a nice touch.
From a horseracebase perspective, there is much we need to do and it really is onwards and upwards from now. I will keep you all up to date in this blog with developments etc, im going to try and write at least a couple of times a week.
But its now done and we have successfully added 19 new categories to the builder as well as improving the options on another couple.
The placings categories now allow you to specify 'No Prev Run' which was a common member request and can be useful in queries. We also extened the distance beaten and distance won ranges for more flexibility.
The new categories include 1 year form stats for jockeys and trainers, statistics on horse performance in National Hunt Handicap sphere and some nice new criteria ranges such as the position in Prize Money won, Decimal Points ahead of next runner and position of age in the race for each horse (ie youngest, oldest etc).
All in all, were delighted to have this done as it means we can begin to move along many other issues which have been on hold.
Of course Cheltenham is on the way and this causes great excitement to all of us involved with horse racing. The focus in all the papers is on Denman v Kauto and its great for horse racing as even my family members with no interest in horse racing are all of a sudden asking questions.
As ive always said, racing needs these types of characters and stories to really highlight the good side of the sport. That said, im still a little disappointed more hasnt been done to really maximise the potential of getting horse racing on the front pages, although i see Harry Findlay and Clive Smith were out and about doing there bit which is a nice touch.
From a horseracebase perspective, there is much we need to do and it really is onwards and upwards from now. I will keep you all up to date in this blog with developments etc, im going to try and write at least a couple of times a week.
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