over the weekend i heard a few race callers referring to a race being 'outside the average for the distance/class'. where do they get this info from, as no doubt it would be pretty handy for using as a benchmark for picking winners?
cheers

Hi clemqld,

I'm very surprised that nobody has answered you on this topic.

I'm not sure where the public can access this information from, but the times are available in most racebooks. The callers also have access to the raceclubs which can give them this information right down to track records, distance records and class records.

If you've ever looked at what a racecaller brings into the box with him, you'd be astounded.

These guys put in more hours than a leading news anchor.

I have been in a box with a caller and he had....

Word documents
Excel spreadsheets
Racebook

Ever wondered why heaps of information they give out as the winner crosses the line? They don't just have this in their brain, much of it is available at the click of a button.

Next to the name of the horse, some have a personal notes...

"7 Day backup"
"Danehill colt"
"Blinkers first time"
"Return from injury"
"6 Distance wins"

etc etc.

Of course they do have a lot of knowledge without reference, especially with the leading trainers and jockeys.

It's extremely funny listening to them learning the colours.

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CP - How do they go about this? I've often wondered.

Hi shoto,

They learn the colours like times table, repeat over and over and over the colours and the horse name.

This is quite difficult still to do when they have a field of unknown horses, of course, the one's that go around week in week out with fairly well known colours (owners with a lot of horses), it gets easier.

I really feel for those callers out bush who know hardly anything about the horses owners etc.

Generally, I was told they will practice the night before and then just "top up" between races for a refresher. It's really a skill which comes with experience.

There was a famous Adelaide caller, who was shocking at this and frequently called the wrong horses.

His famous one's were "And the 5 wins it from the 7 and 9" because he didn't know the names, but frequently the numbers turned out to be entirely different.

Rarely, the radio station will cross to the caller prematurely while he's learning the colours, and it's a hoot to listen to!!!

__________________
RaceCensus - powerful system testing software.
Now with over 399,000 Metropolitan, Provincial and Country races!
http://www.propun.com.au/horse_raci...ng_systems.html
*RaceCensus now updated to 31/03/2024
Video overview of RaceCensus here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W821YP_b0Pg

Fascinating, CP. It really is quite a feat, when there can easily be 80 or 90 runners at a meeting.

I often get a smile when you hear the caller filling up the air with words while he works out the name "... and coming through now ... behind the leaders ... starting to run on ... towards the outside" ... you can almost hear the desperate shuffling of the racebook pages as he tries to find the matching picture.

It's a fine job they do, and listening to calls of US or UK racing makes you realise what an excellent standard we take for granted here.