Ever since Billy Beane’s Oakland A’s pioneered the use of big data to successfully create a cost effective MLB baseball roster, sports data scientists have been working frantically to see how they can harness the technology themselves and then sell their secret formula for sporting success to the word’s highest bidders. Whether it’s a football team on the search for a new signing, perfectly suited to slot seamlessly into their squad, or a swimming coach trying to shave a few milliseconds from their understudy’s times, big data is now a serious factor when it comes to how sports business and coaching are carried out. As you are about to read, horse racing is not immune to such technological advances, with a plethora of companies and individuals lining up to bring racing fully into the Big Data age. Here’s how Big Data is changing the horse racing game for good.
Early Adopters of Big Data Tech
The Jockey Club are the organisers of some of the planet’s most revered horse race meets, including the Grand National and the Cheltenham Festival. They were also one of the first organisations to dip their hooves in the big data pond and have never looked back since, working hard to develop a platform called Equibase, which along with data firm STATS LLC, they have transformed into a one-stop shop for data analysts looking to aid race horse trainers, owners and jockeys. But what are they using the data for you might ask, other than giving their friends top tips for upcoming races? All will be revealed below.
Horse Welfare and Injury Prevention
There’s nothing worse than a horse being retired by its rider after a couple of furlongs, when a previously undetected injury rears its head on camera. Fortunately, Big Data analysis reduces the likelihood of this happening, with high-tech chips installed in saddles transmitting data to computers so that they can predict the likelihood of a horse suffering an injury or being about to redline due to over-fatigue. This is especially important in the run-up to the most demanding races, such as the Epson Derby, one of the most exciting and demanding races of the year, which already has the Epson Derby Race Card available to keep everyone informed, or the aforementioned Grand National in the UK, where horses must be in top form to jump fences safely and run at top speed to complete the course.or the previously mentioned Jockey Club’s steeplechase UK Grand National, where horses are required to be in top shape in order to safely jump fences and race at top speed to complete the course.
Giving Punters and Tipsters an Edge
With Big Data already proving itself an invaluable tool in the battle to increase horse performance as well as animal welfare, there are also those who will be interested to see what its predictive powers can do for their bottom lines. With betting so inextricably linked to horse racing, bookies and punters alike will be keen to see how the new technology can benefit them, and when you see how eerily good at making predictions certain Big Data projects in other sectors are, it’s very easy to see why. The introduction of new faster 5G networks, which allow smart devices to interact at lightning speeds, will only accelerate the amount people can learn about how future races will pan out.
It’s Not All About the Horses
Of course, many of the benefits that their steeds receive from Big Data advances are also helping jockeys perform better. All jockeys are required to adhere to strict diet regimens in order to maintain an ideal racing weight. Previously the intake of calories was measured in a somewhat random manner, using diet programs passed down through generations of jockeys or devised by nutritionists. Although that tried and tested knowledge is far from redundant in the modern age, new training apps, monitoring apps and smart watches can keep jockeys and their handlers abreast of health issues and the weight fluctuations that they may cause. There’s also the very real chance that in the future, as the same tech brings about the roll out of self-driving cars, that robots may become the jockeys of the future. You heard it here first!
