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Raceday Operations and Regulation Blog
Welcome to the Raceday Operations and Regulation Blog. Here we will bring you an insight from behind the scenes into how we run racedays and ensure all goes smoothly
Judges Team Principal Nick Bostock: WHEN THE JUDGE CALLS 'PHOTOGRAPH, PHOTOGRAPH'
30th November 2009
Recently the BHA has partnered with Arena ltd to bring you photofinish images from the selection of racecourses who utilises Arena to produce their photofinishes.
Over the next few weeks we are hoping to extend this partnership to include Racetech ltd and thus be able to provide photofinishes from almost every British course.
In light of this, and also the unbelievable finish witnessed in the Betfair Chase on Saturday 21st November and Kauto Star and Imperial Commander were involved in the closest of finishes, we asked our Judges Team Principal Nick Bostock to blog about photofinishes, and the technology and processes involved in the announcement of those tightest of races.
"When the finish of a race is tight and appears to be a head or less the Judge will call ‘Photograph, Photograph’. This is when the Judge utilises the technology at his disposal to determine the result, as was the case of the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday in which Kauto Star beat Imperial Commander by a nose.
The photo-finish image is produced by a highly skilled Photo-finish technician using the latest state of the art camera technology, which has been developed over the years by Swiss Timing.
The origins of the modern photofinish system date back to the London Olympic Games of 1948, but have come a long way to the colour system that we use today. The systems that we now use work at great speed, effectively taking one thousand frames per second.
The image generated, which is read in the form of a computer generated pixelated image on a computer monitor by the Judge, can quickly give us the ability to split two horses by one pixel or one thousandth of a second.
Betfair Chase Standside camera- Click on image to view full size, and then zoom in to see the line
However, the decision making process that the Judge carries out cannot begin until all the horses that are completing the course have been recorded on the system. In the case of a sprint race on the flat this may take only two or three seconds but in the case of a jumps race is considerably longer.
In the case of the Betfair Chase it took almost 31 seconds for the last horse to cross the line after the two principals. Then the Photo-finish operator would have shown the Judge the image that would best illustrate the result.
We always have two cameras set up on the line; one which covers the whole width of the track and a second one which shows a mirror image, effectively as though viewed from the off side of the horses, finishing furthest away from the Judge. However, due to the widened racing surface at Haydock we have the very latest innovation whereby a second remote camera located on the infield of the course generates another image in the format that would normally be shown by the mirror camera.
These images are able to be enlarged without altering the actual image quality to assist the Judge in the decision making process. To a degree they can also be lightened but the actual daylight conditions have a bearing on this because with the cameras working at such high speeds to capture the action, they do depend on good light conditions. As the light fades away on winter afternoons or in the case of evening racing or poor weather conditions, the brightness of images produced is inevitably affected to some extent.
On Betfair Chase day the Judge was able to utilise the two images, which gave him the evidence that as the two horses crossed the line, Kauto Star had in fact beaten Imperial Commander by a nose.
With a deliberate pause in the right place he was then able to announce the result to the expectant crowd. The huge cheer that went up was a brilliant response that did justice to the excitement of the finish.
The technician then sends the image to the Broadcast Scanner Vehicle so that it can be displayed in the bars on closed circuit TV and can also be shown by the terrestrial/racing TV Channels should they wish to, and have time to use it.
Betfair Chase Infield camera- Click on image to view full size, and then zoom in to see the line
 Prints are then produced and distributed by the racecourse’s “runner” to the Public Display Boards on the racecourse, and to the Press Room and the Stewards. In the event of there ever being any appeal about the decision of the result, it is the pin-sharp electronic image that would be reviewed, not a hard copied print.
How the Judge calculates Distances
Distances are calculated on the elapsed time between each horse and a scale known as the Lengths per Second Scale (Lps) is then used. In 2008 the scale was enhanced in conjunction with the BHA Handicappers and takes into account whether it is Flat or Jumps racing, the type of surface in use at the all weather fixtures and the official turf going description issued (and changed as necessary) on the day. The Scales used vary from 4 to 5 Lps for Jumps racing and from 5 to 6 Lps on the Flat.
The Photo-finish system records an elapsed time between each finisher and the Judge is responsible for ensuring that the correct Lps scale is being used. On Saturday at Haydock the Official Going was Soft, (Heavy in places) so the scale in use would have been 4 Lps.
It was clear to see that Kauto Star had won by a nose and this was also the scale - calculated distance. If, however, the actual visual distance appears to be different from that calculated by the scale software then the Judge has it within his powers to alter the distance - but only for the first three distances - up to two and a half lengths.
The lengths per second scales used are shown below
Flat: Turf
| Going |
Lengths per second |
| GOOD OR QUICKER
| 6
|
GOOD, GOOD TO SOFT IN PLACES,
GOOD TO SOFT, GOOD IN PLACES,
GOOD TO SOFT,
GOOD TO SOFT, SOFT IN PLACES
| 5.5
|
| SOFT, GOOD TO SOFT IN PLACES
SOFT OR SLOWER
| 5
|
Flat: All Weather
| Course |
Lengths per second |
| KEMPTON PARK, LINGFIELD PARK, WOLVERHAMPTON
| 6
|
| SOUTHWELL
| 5
|
Jumps
| Going |
Lengths per second |
| GOOD OR QUICKER
| 5
|
GOOD, GOOD TO SOFT IN PLACES,
GOOD TO SOFT, GOOD IN PLACES,
GOOD TO SOFT,
GOOD TO SOFT, SOFT IN PLACES
| 4.5
|
| SOFT, GOOD TO SOFT IN PLACES
SOFT OR SLOWER
| 4
|
National Hunt Flat: All Weather
| Course |
Lengths per second |
| KEMPTON PARK, LINGFIELD PARK
| 5
|
| SOUTHWELL
| 4
|
In the event of there being different Going descriptions on different parts of the Course then the Scale applied is relevant to the actual Course being raced upon or the Going in the finishing straight as that is where the photo-finish cameras are recording the elapsed times".
Getting started is the hardest part...
30th June 2009
Sean McDonald, BHA manager responsible for the Clerks of the Scales, Starters, Advance Flag Operators and Judges, blogs about the considerations taken in starting a race, in light of the events in the Royal Hunt Cup at Royal Ascot
I am the BHA manager responsible for the Clerks of the Scales, Starters, Advance Flag Operators and Judges. It is my responsibility to ensure that high standards are met and maintained by all my team and that our daily operations run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. Most people are astounded when we show them the amount of background work and training that is required for each of these roles – some non racing people I met thought that starting the Grand National, for instance, was something you were ‘invited’ to do, a bit like being a best man at a wedding. It is similar because as soon as you stand up everyone is waiting for you to fluff your lines or get the bride’s name wrong!
On a day to day basis the vast majority of race meetings pass off without major incident in any of my areas. However, when something does occasionally go wrong there tends to be a lot of press attention because of the rarity value. Issues are bound to crop up though when you’re dealing with 9,500 races and nearly 100,000 finely tuned runners a year. Sometimes we get criticised, often unfairly, but we are all big boys and girls and can handle it.
When there is an incident of note the majority of the time it’s at the start. Everyone’s eyes are on the start. Jumping starts are about making split second decisions when you are sure that the start is as fair as it can be. New “walk-in” procedures introduced around 3 or 4 years ago have worked really well and the feedback from jockeys has been good. On the flat we want to get the horses into the stalls quickly, fairly and above all safely and set them on their way. There are so many variables in play not least of which are the thoroughbreds weighing 450 – 550+ kilograms, trained to a peak level of fitness and usually keen as mustard to run as fast as they can. It all makes for an often unpredictable working environment that needs to be very carefully managed.
A case in point recently was the Royal Hunt Cup which resulted in three horses being withdrawn at the start for unruly behaviour. Big fields like this are very difficult as the first horses loaded may have to spend 3 minutes or more in the stalls. Sprinters are generally the most problematic as they have explosive energy that has to be contained until the gates open. When the gates shut behind them all they want to do is race.
Going back to the Hunt Cup what very few people realised was that for the sake of no more than 10 more seconds the race would have been started without incident. The last horse was just into the stalls when the other three boiled over and got themselves in a bit of a pickle. The starters were very quick to assess the situation and, with the expertise of the stalls handlers, got them out and started the race without them. But my colleagues were unfairly criticised in some quarters for not reloading two of them.
There are very sound reasons for not reloading unruly horses and we have learned this from experience. Horse welfare is paramount and they may well have injured themselves. The injury may be internal, muscular or skeletal and not manifest itself until afterwards. If you allow them to run they could ‘break down’ during the race and the owner may face losing their horse at worst, or a long layoff with costly veterinary bills. Remember too that we are talking about often very valuable animals – we are just not in a position to take a flier with our procedures. At the very least horses that have played up are extremely unlikely to run to their form after being unruly in the stalls, thus depriving the punter of a fair run for his money.
Why not just have them examined by the vet at the start and then reload them? Well, to do so properly takes time and during this time you increase the risk of other horses becoming troublesome – believe me I’ve seen this happen. In addition, with adrenalin flowing it can mask potential injuries and it can be difficult for a vet to make an accurate clinical assessment in such a narrow time frame. Therefore, always better to be safe than sorry.
There is also the possibility that if you put a horse that has been unruly back in the stalls it might just exhibit the very same behaviour. This again we have learned from experience. At one course some years ago, when we did have an industry – agreed reloading policy where possible, in a smallish field a horse reared badly and we had to take it out. We reloaded it last into the stalls where it did it again though much worse, this time getting its front legs into the next stall where it affected the neighbouring horse and rider. Incidentally, any horse that is withdrawn for this level of unruliness always has to pass a formal Stalls Test before it can race again. If it fails, it can ultimately end up with a 6 month ban.
So there you have it – there is much more to start procedures than meets the eye and lots of reasons not to run further risk of injury to other runners, riders and the stalls handlers (who do such a magnificent job) by reloading horses that have been unruly. Of course, these decisions are never universally popular as there is inevitably disappointment for the connections whose horse doesn’t run. We fully understand the work, effort and expense put into getting a horse ready for the races. But we always make decisions with the best interests of the majority at heart as it is patently unfair to compromise the well behaved to accommodate those that are unruly.
Keeping track of each horse’s behaviour at the start through our Starters’ database and helping connections to try and iron out difficult traits is a rewarding experience so, thankfully there are many more good days than bad!
We obviously wish we never have to withdraw runners but thoroughbreds can be unpredictable animals and we have to handle these inevitable situations as they arise. All we can do is make sound decisions based on our regulatory policy, years of experience, common sense and always with safety and equine welfare at the absolute forefront of our minds.
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