Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Beyer Figures Formula Tweaked for Synthetic Tracks

I KNEW The Pamplemousse ran at least a 107 Beyer in the Sham Stakes! Now it's official. Seriously, though... this is welcome news for handicappers and horsemen attempting to evaluate a horse's performance on synthetic tracks.

According to a Daily Racing Form release by Andrew Beyer, the method for calculating the Beyer Speed Figure -- a system for rating the performance of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America designed in the early 1970s by Beyer and introduced into the Daily Racing Form in 1992 -- has been adjusted to incorporate the differences between synthetic and dirt tracks.

Synthetic tracks are generally considered less speed-favoring than traditional dirt, prompting a change in the mathemetical underpinnings of the Beyer Speed Figures. The new calculations go into effect Wednesday, June 3, and will be applied retroactively to Jan. 1, 2009.

"The speed chart was first published in my book Picking Winners in 1975, and it has stood the test of time," said Beyer. "Its accuracy has been almost magical -- for dirt races. But synthetic tracks have proved to be a new game. Accordingly, we have revised the chart for synthetic tracks, expanding the range of numbers so they are higher at the top and lower at the bottom." The changes in calculation will generally raise the figures for higher-class horses and decrease those for lower-level horses.

Read the full story here.

3 comments:

The_Knight_Sky said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The_Knight_Sky said...

Mr.Beyer uttered:

But synthetic tracks have proved to be a new game.
_________________

Is it true?

Are they really racing on type of a main track that Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Spectacular Bid may not have excelled on back in their day.

zraces said...

After reading the article, I began to wonder why Beyer hasn't addressed the low figures that horses get on turf. There seems to be on average 10 points between dirt and grass performances. Well Monied won a G2, got a Beyer of just 88.

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