Hey all,
The site upgrade I have mentioned over the last while, unfortunately wasnt ready for our hoped date of yesterday. It would be stupid to do it now with Cheltenham upon us and the site being used constantly by people researching trends etc. Therefore I will confirm now that the site upgrade shall go ahead on Sunday 20th March after that days racing has finished. I will post a blog at that time.
Our user numbers have risen over the past couple of days with many people on a free trial as they look for an alternative to Adrian Massey's site. Id like to say in this regard how much admiration I have for Adrian and the job he has done for over ten years, completely in aid of charity. This is nothing short of astonishing when you think about it as he could have easily cashed in yet stuck to his guns. For whatever reason he has decided to stop, I wish him the very best.
What I am aware of is at the moment HorseRaceBase is very much geared towards technically minded horse racing fans and from the emails we are receiving, many people are looking for a much simpler platform and want a standard set of ratings, whereas we tend to encourage creating your own. This isnt a new realisation as a result of followers of Adrian Massey coming on board, however it does ram home the point!
Fortunately, we had already done all the work and as part of the upgrade we will be introducing standard HorseRaceBase ratings as oppose to an example set. In addition we will be creating far easier to use areas to query the ratings performance in different scenarios and to save them into systems. (For the more technically minded, it will involve new functionality meaning you can automatically set up so one set of ratings can be used in one scenario and others in another - thus benefiting those of you who have created your own sets).
In all my posts and all over the site, you will see our requests for feedback, id like to take the opportunity to ask all of you (including those on a free trial) to let us know if you are struggling to use the site, miss certain functionality you previously had etc.
Members of HorseRaceBase are very aware that our site is built around member feedback and donations. By working together we continually add to and improve the sites functionality, the truth is the site simply could not exist without asking for a monthly donation.
Cheltenham is now of course here and its a great and busy time. Im really looking forward to a couple of the races in particular with the performance of Hurricane Fly in the Champion Hurdle a really interesting answer to the question of Irish form holding up.
Additionally the Champion Bumper is one I cant wait for. I have had a tip for practically every horse in the race. I actually wont be touching anything but I cant wait to see who comes out on top!
Finally you have to mention the Gold Cup. I was there last year when Imperial Commander came home and there were people crying! If Kauto Star won this year it would be an extraordinary achievement and would go into the history books but of course if IC wins again it will join the list of doublers and then you have Denman who just makes me smile even thinking about him! Its a fantastic race and one I will again possibly not have a bet in (depending on what My Systems throws up).
The best advice I can give for the festival, is that although its exciting and fantastic racing, it does not mean you have to raise your stakes, risk blowing the bank or whatever else. Enjoy it, if you have a well researched selection of course it all adds to the excitement. But there is no need to start taking risks, changing your strategy or backing something for the sake of it. I say this, because last year there were three or four members I know who had to take a break from racing as a result of a bad Cheltenham. Thats crazy.
Sensible staking, clear strategy, long term goals is the way forward.
All the best to everyone, will post again soon.
Cheers
Chris
Posts
