Bet Selector Help File - 21/04/08

Introduction | Form Import | Price Predictor | Horse Window | Form Window | Tote Pro | System Selector | TAB Results File | Race TAB Live | MyCalc | More Help

Introduction

Operating Hints

When you first run the program and attempt to do anything with it, you will be presented with a password dialogue displaying a "computer code". Simply email the "computer code" to us and we will email you back a password. Note that you will also have to follow this procedure if you change your computer hard disk or substantially alter or upgrade your computer.

The program won't do anything (even after you enter your password), until you give it some races to look at. More details on this in the Form Import part of this Help File. Note you can get started quickly by downloading a free sample meeting using the "Download Cyberhorse Sample" option off the pull down Import menu.

It is your responsibility to back up the contents of your program folder (c:\price) and we recommend you do this periodically (eg to CD) so you can restore the program and all your past data if needed. When doing this you should copy every single file in the program folder as when restoring, the program and past data is only guaranteed to be trouble free if the restored folder and contents is identical to that originally backed up. Note there is a backup facility on the pull down FILE menu that will create the required backup for you.

Punting Hints

The Price Predictor part of Bet Selector (available via the pull down Run menu) not only predicts the finishing order of horses in a race but also calculates what it thinks is a "fair" price for each runner. Some punters are happy to simply bet the top prediction regardless but the professional approach is to only back a horse if the price available for it is equal to or better than what the program says is a "fair" price.

Betting only when you can get a horse's "fair" price or better can be applied just to the top rated horse or to multiple horses in the same race. If using this approach with more than one horse in a race, it is usually best to limit horses under consideration to the top 5 or 6 rated and/or to those rated at $10 or less (this makes sure you concentrate only on the main chances in each race).

Also important is selecting the right races and less experienced punters are advised to start with lower risk races. These are best identified by confining yourself to Saturday Sydney and Melbourne races with above average quality horses. The quality or class of the horses in a race is collectively expressed by the avBASE figure listed alongside the race name within the program (50 and above is good, 60 plus is absolute top - eg Melb Cup. Cox Plate etc). Races with large numbers of first uppers and races for 2 year old horses are best excluded.

For a more selective approach, see the System Selector part of this Help File.

Navigation Hints

Unlike many Windows programs with numerous options to choose from, we have deliberately kept the user interface simple with just a few key paths you can take once in the program. There are only four drop down menus in the program, File, Run, Import and Help.

• File. This menu is used for infrequent file operations like creating a backup, downloading TAB result files and transferring TAB results from one computer to another.
• Run. This menu lets you access the main parts of the program which are Price Predictor, System Selector, Race TAB Live and MyCalc (note that not all versions contain all these modules).
• Import. This menu lets you download, unzip and import meeting form.

The remainder of this Help File documents the most important program components mentioned above. Note that Tote Pro is automatically populated with race data from the Price Predictor and Race TAB Live parts of the program although there is a Standalone version off the pull down Run menu that can be used even n the demo program by manually keying in win prices.

Form Import

Selecting the pull down "Import" menu will give you access to the following options:

• Download BestForm Form Files. This option downloads, unzips and imports current meetings all in one go. It uses your BestForm username and password to log in and display meetings available for download from BestForm. All you need do is click the "Check Meetings" button to see what is available, select the days (or months) you want and click the "Download" button to download.
• Download Cyberhorse Form Files. This option downloads, unzips and imports current meetings all in one go. It uses your Cyberhorse username and password to log in and display meetings available for download from Cyberhorse. All you need do is click the "Check Meetings" button to see what is available, select the days you want and click the "Download" button to download.
• Unzip Cyberhorse Files (using XP). This option is not normally used but remains in case you need to unzip meetings that have been downloaded (but not unzipped) by other means.
• Import Cyberhorse PUNTER Files. This option is not normally used but can be used if you need to import Cyberhorse 5 start meetings that have been downloaded and unzipped (but not imported) by other means.
• Import Cyberhorse PRO PUNTER Files. This option is not normally used but can be used if you need to import Cyberhorse 10 start meetings that have been downloaded and unzipped (but not imported) by other means.
• Import Cyberhorse NOMS Files. This option is for use by Cyberhorse for in-house processing of their Nomination files.
• Import Rating Bureau Export Files. This option imports meetings that have been exported from TRB's Winline GTX program.
• Import AAP Form Analyser Meetings. This option imports meetings that have been loaded into AAP's Form Analyser program.
• Import South Coast Export Files. This option imports meetings that have been exported from South Coast's Racing Database.
• Import Form Viewer Export Files. This option imports meetings that have been exported from Peter Faulk's Form Viewer program.
• Download Cyberhorse Sample. This option downloads, unzips and imports a sample meeting so you can see how the program works without a form subscription.
• Download Cyberhorse Historical Files. This option downloads, unzips and imports historical meetings. It uses your Cyberhorse username and password to log in and display meetings available for download from Cyberhorse. All you need do is click the "Check Meetings" button to see what is available, select the month, State and type (metrop, provincial or country) you want and click the "Download Meetings" button to download.

Note: The Historical Download option is only available in Bet Selector Pro Platinum and gives you access back to the date when you first subscribed plus one more year further back for every year in advance you are subscribed (or part thereof).

For details on BestForm form, go to www.bestform.com.au

For details on Cyberhorse form, go to www.virtualformguide.com/

Price Predictor

Once one or more meetings have been imported into the program, they will be available to the Price Predictor part of the program via the pull down RUN menu. Price Predictor is the original ratings part of the program. It lists all meetings available for use in a scrollable list box on the left with a number of buttons on the right as follows:

• LOAD DATA TABLES. This button allows you to load in all the field data and past form for a meeting and view it in a tabular format (eg with statistics and data for each horse lined up in columns for easy comparison). This option also provides you with the ability to scratch horses, change expected track conditions and even edit individual horse ratings.
• View/Print Fields. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) Field report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types). See the following Horse Window section for column explanations as most columns in this report are also on the Horse Window (except %x100 which refers to the predicted percentage times 100, eg 550 for 55.0%).
• View/Print Text Form. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) Form report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types).
• View/Print Stats. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) Statistical report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types).
• View/Print Inrunning. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) In-running report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types).
• View/Print Top 6. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) Top 6 report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types).
• View/Print Place %s. This button create a Rich Text Format (RTF) Place % report that pops up in WordPad or your word processor (our program uses whichever program your operating system has associated with these file types).
• Save Fields to Text File. This option creates text versions of the "View/Print Fields" reports in the Price folder.
• Rename Meeting. This button allow to to rename the selected meeting (eg on the rare occasions the TAB is using a different meeting name and you want them to match up).
• Delete Meeting(s). This button deletes the selected meeting or meetings.

The six View/Print options are handy if you wish to quickly view information and optionally print it out but the real guts of the Price Predictor part of Bet Selector lies within the "Load Data Tables" option.

Horse Window

The Horse Window displays every horse in the race listed down the screen and details for each horse listed across the screen (extra details are available on the right hand side by clicking TABs for additional panes of information). Data presented for each horse is as follows:

For details of horse's past runs you must click the "View Past Form/Edit Ratings" pushbutton towards the bottom left of the screen. Details on the Form/Edit dialogue that pops up can be found in the Form Window part of this help file.

Form Window

The Form Window displays detailed horse information in the top half of the screen, a sub-screen of items you can edit in the middle of the screen and past form information in the bottom half of the screen.

Items that you can edit (eg to modify a horse's predicted status) are as follows (note that after changing anything you should click the "Update" pushbutton to force prediction recalculations):

In the bottom half of the Form Window, each past run available is listed down the screen and details for each past run are listed across the screen (extra details are available on the right hand side by scrolling to the right). Note that you may have to scroll right to see all of the above information. Also if you have access to a large number of past starts (eg more than 16), you may have to scroll down to see them. Items included for past starts are as follows:

Tote Pro

Clicking the "Run Tote Pro (Exotic Betting)" button will invoke the Tote Pro module that provides exotic betting functionality. The Tote Pro dialogue provides numerous data entry controls as follows:

Once you have made your desired changes (if any) to the above, the following pushbuttons complete the process of calculating exotic bet combinations.

• Use Rated Prices. This pushbutton sets your BASE prices to equal the program's rated win prices.
• Use TAB Prices. This pushbutton sets your BASE prices to equal the prices in the COMP column which are usually TAB prices entered by the user or sourced from the TAB via the Race TAB Live part of the program.
• Optimise Standouts. This pushbutton sets standouts according to the method described in the "Form Analysis & Exotics Betting" (FAEB) book.
• Optimise Settings. This pushbutton sets all the values as tabulated above in a manner required by the FAEB method.
• Optimise COMPs. This pushbutton sets Comparative prices in accordance with special FAEB formulae that are applied to help reduce the overall number of exotic combinations.
• Generate Bets. Clicking this pushbutton causes prices to be calculated and displayed in the lower text window for individual exotic bet combinations.

Note: The above pushbuttons should be clicked in left to right order only.

NEW TOTE PRO BET TYPES
Tote Pro allows you to generate bet files compatible with Tabcorp's Express Betting mode not just for exotic bets but also for win, place and each-way bets and trifecta and first four flexibets. All you need do is select the radio button in the top right corner of the Tote Pro dialogue relevant to your desired bet type and then click the "Genrate Bets" button. In the case of each-way bets you can specify a place to win ratio and in the case of First Four (TT+) and Trifecta (EX+) you can add the option of flexi-betting where your outlay is proportioned across all combinations rather than used for each combination (note these bets are created from trifecta and exacta combinations respectively by simply adding 3rd place standouts grouped together for the final placing).

The "Multiple Bet" option when ticked groups selections together to create one bet rather than individual "one combination per line" bets. Plus (if in "Multiple Bet" mode) there's the ability to "rove" standouts from first place to second and third. This is achieved by selecting the 213, 231, 132, 312, 321 checkboxes at the bottom left of the Tote Pro dialogue. 213 for example indicates you want to include bets with 1st and 2nd selections swapped etc. Note you should always click the "View/Check TAB Bet List" to see what Tote Pro is doing.

System Selector

Selecting "System Selector" from the pull down RUN menu calls up the System Selector module within the program. System Selector was initially designed to help users pick system selections for upcoming races but now also lets users back test systems over past meetings they have downloaded. System Selector lets you select a system in the large left hand list box and then apply one of the following options via the right hand push buttons:

• Edit System Rules. This button brings up a template for the selected system into which rules can be typed. Note the default settings are set to ensure all horses in all races are selected so you only need change settings for rules you actually wish to apply. Full details on defining system rules can be found below.
• Test System. This button brings up a dialogue for starting a system test on the selected system. The main requirements are that you set a start and end date for the test via drop down date lists and then click the "Start" button.
• View Last System Test. This button brings up a RTF listing of all system selections from the last system test.
• Analyse Last System Test. This button brings up a spreadsheet file of all system selections in the Standard and Gold versions. In the Gold Plus, Platinum and above versions it brings up System Analyser which provides a "Start" button for generating System Analysis, a "View Previous Analysis" for viewing the last analysis (but without having to re-generate it) and a "View current CSV file" button for bringing up the current CSV file of system selections.
• View TAB Bet File. This button brings up a display of bets for the most recent date of the selected systems last test. Bets are in Tabcorp "bestream" format so can be pasted into Tabcorp's batch bet window in Express Betting (or loaded into UNiTABs NetBet Pro software). Included bet types (eg trifecta, quinella, exacta, first 4, win and/or place) are those checked on the abovementioned "Test System" dialogue.
• View System Rules. This button produces a text listing of the rules for the selected system.
• View System Log File. This button brings up a list of performance summary tables for recent system tests.
• Delete System. This button allows you to delete the selected system.
• Add 'Blank' System. This button is used to add a new system template which can then be used to enter a new system into (via the top "Edit System Rules button").

None of the above options except the last will operate until you have one or more systems available to work on. To create a new system you simply (a) use the last "Add 'Blank' System" option to add a system with 'blank' rules and then (b) use the "Edit System Rules" option to give the system a name and define its rules. To run the system you simply (a) use the "Test System" option to do the test and (b) use the "View Last System Test" option to view the selections.

Tip: To pick system selections for upcoming meeting(s) just set the start and end dates to the date of the upcoming meeting.

Note: System Selector will not operate in the Demo version.

107 Free System Downloads

Main System Selector Rules

System Selector works by allowing you to set maximum and minimum bounds to a variety of parameters. Parameters are initially set to select as many horses as possible but by simply restricting the upper and lower bounds, a smaller sample of horses is selected. Various Yes/No criteria are also available. A list with descriptions of the main System Selector criteria follows.

RACE DISTANCE: Minimum and maximum bounds for the upcoming race distance can be set. This allows the program to easily target certain distances.

RACE FIELD SIZE: Minimum and maximum bounds for field size can be set. This allows the program to easily ignore races with very small or large fields.

RACE CLASS: Minimum and maximum bounds for race class can be set. The scale is in kilograms and is calculated form a weighted average of the recent ratings of the better quality horses in the race - best races are 60+, above average class 50-60 and lowest classes in 40s and below.

MAX No of 1ST UPPERS: Used to set an upper limit to the number of first up runners you wish to allow in races.

DAY of WEEK: used to select the day of the week, eg 7 for Saturday only, 1 for Sunday only, 17 for Saturday and Sunday, 1234567 for all days etc.

VENUE: Venue code, eg S for Sydney, M for Melbourne, B for Brisbane, A for Adelaide, W for Perth and X for anything else - or a combination of these eg SMBAWX for everything, SMB for just the 3 eastern capitals etc.

TRACK CONDITION: G for Good and Fast, D for Dead, S for Slow and H for Heavy or any combination of these eg GDSH for all conditions.

AGE OF HORSE: Minimum and maximum bounds for age can be set. This allows the program to easily ignore horses of certain ages or indeed entire races for specific ages.

WIN PERCENTAGE: Usually used to concentrate on high strike rate horses by setting an appropriate minimum bound. A maximum bound can also be set.

PLACE PERCENTAGE: Usually used to concentrate on high place percentage horses by setting an appropriate minimum bound. A maximum bound can also be set.

CAREER STARTS: Both minimum and maximum bounds can be set to eliminate horses with very few career starts or excessively high career starts.

BARRIER POSITION: By setting of minimum and maximum bounds can be used to eliminate inside barrier horses or outside barrier horses or both.

TAB NUMBER: Usually used to eliminate high TAB number horses but can also eliminate low TAB number horses or both.

WEIGHT TO BE CARRIED: Maximum and minimum bounds can be set to eliminate horses racing high in the weights or low in the weights or both.

DAYS TO LAST RUN: Typically used to concentrate on horses having raced in recent weeks by setting of the maximum bound. Can also set a minimum bound.

DAYS TO 2ND-LAST RUN: Typically used to concentrate on horses having two closely spaced races in recent weeks by setting of the maximum bound. Can also set a minimum bound.

DAYS TO 3RD-LAST RUN: Typically used to concentrate on horses having three closely spaced races in recent weeks by setting of the maximum bound. Can also set a minimum bound.

MINIMUM RUNS THIS PREPARATION: Useful for excluding horses that are first-up, second-up and so on.

LAST RUN FINISHING POSITION: Can be used to select last start winners, placegetters, non-placegetters etc by setting of minimum and maximum bounds.

2ND, 3RD AND 4TH LAST FINISHING POSITIONS: As above but for second, third and fourth last starts.

LAST START SP: Very useful for identifying horses that were favoured or not favoured last start. Operates by setting of maximum and minimum bounds for SP.

DISTANCE CHANGE LAST START: A limit can be placed both on distance rise and distance drop to concentrate on horses only going up or down in distance a specified amount from their last start. A change in distance from "Last Best Distance "LBD" start (the distance of the start out of last 3 with least margin) can also be limited.

WEIGHT CHANGE: Both a minimum and maximum weight change can be specified to concentrate on horses only going up or down a certain amount of weight from their last start.

WON AT THE DISTANCE: Indicating 'Yes' will select only those horses having won at the distance. Indicating 'No' will disregard the criteria and consider all horses. Blanking out the criteria will pick all horses considered suitable at the distance even if they haven't won over the exact distance.

WON AT THE COURSE: Indicating 'Yes' will select only those horses having won at the course while indicating 'No' will disregard the criteria and consider all horses.

METROPOLITAN START LAST RUN: Indicating 'Yes' will select only those horses having last raced on a metropolitan track. Indicating 'No' will disregard the criteria and consider all horses.

SATURDAY RUN LAST START: Indicating 'Yes' will select only those horses having last raced on a Saturday. Indicating 'No' will disregard the criteria.

FAVOURITE LAST START: Indicating 'Yes' will select only those horses that were favourite at their last start. Indicating 'No' will disregard the criteria.

NOTE: If you have the Pro Gold v2 then all the above Yes/No questions can be answered with an X to get the opposite of Yes (eg not last start favourite - remember answering N ignores the criteria).

MAXIMUM LAST START MARGIN: Setting a positive figure, say 3, selects all horses having finished within 3 lengths of the winner (or won) at their last start. Setting a negative number, say minus one (-1), selects all horses having won by at least one length at their last start.

MAXIMUM $000 PRIZE INCREASE: Used to put an upper limit on the amount by which a horse can increase in "class" based on the prizemoney of the upcoming race in thousands of dollars compared to that of the last race.

MUST BE YES FOR WINNING FORM: Can be set to Y if you only want to select horses allocated Yes for winning form (as per Peter Bent's exotic handicapping method), otherwise ignored.

MUST BE YES FOR IMPROVER: Can be set to Y if you only want to select horses allocated Yes for Improver (as per Peter Bent's exotic handicapping method), otherwise ignored.

AVERAGE PRIZEMONEY RANKING: Typically used to concentrate on horses with high average prizemoney (prizemoney divided by number of starts) by setting a maximum ranking bound. A minimum bound can also be set.

WIN PERCENTAGE RANKING: Typically used to concentrate on horses with high win percentage by setting a maximum ranking bound, eg using 4 would force only the 4 highest win percentage horses to be listed. A minimum bound can also be set.

PLACE PERCENTAGE RANKING: Typically used to concentrate on horses with high place percentage by setting a maximum ranking bound, eg using 2 would force only the 2 highest place percentage horses to be listed. A minimum bound can also be set.

PREDICTED FINISHING POSITION: Based on the program's own rated predictions, minimum and maximum finishing position bounds can be set to force a system to confine selections to certain rated positions.

PREDICTED MARGIN: Based on the program's predictions, you can force a system to concentrate on horses predicted to fall within a minimum to maximum range of margins. Setting the minimum to zero and the maximum to a negative number, (eg -1 or -2), selects races where the predicted winner is predicted to win by at least the entered amount (eg 1 or 2 lengths).

PREDICTED ODDS: Both minimum and maximum rated price bounds can be set but typically you would set just the upper bound to force the program to concentrate on the more highly rated horses.

Other rules to be added to an upcoming version include margin and turn (in-running) position ranges for a horse's last three starts plus ranges for the base rating, peak rating and last start rating.

Special System Tests/Rules

The following special test are available in the Pro Gold version and above.

BETTER RATINGS TESTS
To test "Better Ratings" you must being your system name with BR$ and end it with the number or top "Better Ratings" horse you wish to include. For example: BR$1 will test the top Better Ratings horse only, BR$2 will test the top 2 Better Ratings horses combined, BR$3 will test the top 3 Better Ratings horses combined and so on. BR$24 will test the entire field. The advantage of the last test on the entire field will become apparent when you see that it lists the "Better Rating" (from 100 for top horse downwards) for each horse in a race - so this is the test you'd use for an upcoming race meeting to see how every horse rates on the "Better Ratings" scale. Note also that a "More Help" button on the main System Selector window now exists to remind you of how to set up these tests.

PLUS RATINGS TESTS
In a similar fashion you can now emulate Cyberhorse Plus ratings in System Selector by naming your system PR$1 to get top Plus rated, PR$2 to get top 2 Plus rated through to PR$24 to get entire field. Note that ratings are displayed for each horse in kilogram units using a traditional scale whereby anything above 60kg is very good.

PREDICTED MARGIN TESTS
System Selector is now able to test for the predicted margin between the 1st and 2nd predicted finishers - in particular test for the top horse when its margin exceeds a user defined amount. This is achieved by entering the desired standout margin as a negative number into the maximum predicted margin box while leaving the minimum predicted margin at zero. For example to see just races where the top rated and second rated horses are at least 2 predicted lengths apart, leave min pred margin at zero and set max pred margin to -2.

Please note the above picks "races" rather than horses so you have to also set pred pos min and max to 1 each if you want to pick the top horse that stands out by above margin. Note you could set pred pos min and max to 2 if you wanted to pick the 2nd rated horse where it is say 2 lengths or more behind first etc etc.

MARKET CRITERIA TESTS
The Market Criteria can be found at the bottom of the right hand column of System Selector criteria. SP Price (min-max) allows you to select horses by their Starting Price (expressed in dollars) using the min and max range. SP Rank (min-max) allows you to select horses by their Starting Price Ranking, eg 1-1 for favourite, 1-3 for top 3 favourites etc.

Finally SP Overlay % refers to the extent of overlays being tested. Zero (0) means overlay testing is ignored. 100 means only horses at exactly the rated price or better are included. 150 means only horses at exactly one and a half times the rated price or better are included. 200 means only horses at exactly twice the rated price or better are included and so on.

The following special test are available in the Pro Platinum version and above.

BETTER AND PLUS RATINGS MARKET CRITERIA TESTS
The overlay test can be changed to compare the TAB prices to Better Ratings prices if you have a BR$ test and put the letter V immediately before the BR$ - so the system name must have VBR$ in it somewhere. Numbers follow the BR$ as before to determine which Better Ratings runners you are targeting. Exactly the same applies for Plus Ratings tests. If you put VPR$ somewhere in the system name then the Plus Ratings prices will be used in overlay tests. Remember you still have to set the Overlay Index criteria. The letter V has been chosen because you can think of it as standing for “Value”.

LOWEST WEIGHT RULE
This rule allows you to select a range of weights relative to the lowest weight allocated for a race – not the limit weight but rather the lowest weight allocated for the race. The reason the limit weight itself is not used is that not all races have limit weights and sometimes the lowest weight allocated is higher than the limit. The lowest weight allocated is, as you’d expect, the lowest weight allocated to a horse in the race before scratchings.

This rule uses the existing weight carried range boxes – if the program sees numbers less than 40 it assumes you wish to apply a “weight over lowest weight” range rather than a “weight carried” range (but only in your Pro Gold++ version). So for example setting “weight carried” minimum to 1 and maximum to 3 would select all horses weighted between 1 and 3 kilograms over the lowest weight. Note you can mix the numbers and could have a minimum of 1 and maximum of 55 which would select horses at least 1 kilogram over the lowest weight but not weighted more than 55 kilograms.

TRIFECTA PROFIT MAGNIFIER
If you put X$1 in a system name in System Selector, the program will automatically exclude the favourite from third place in trifectas. Put in X$2 and it will exclude the first two favourites, X$3 the first three favourites and so on.

Spreadsheet Analysis File

Spreadsheet files in comma delimited format are created every time you run System Selector over past meetings. The comma-delimited format (with each column of data separated from the next by a comma) has been chosen as it is the most common format asked for and the format most compatible with all spreadsheet and database programs. It will load into programs like Excel with the data automatically separated into columns within the spreadsheet - so you can sort the data by any column you like and even apply calculations to individual columns.

Labels at the top of each column identify what each column contains. If you just browse the selections in this file as it exists in chronological order, you will get a feel for how your system selections fair in the order they are bet. If however you sort the entire selection list in the spreadsheet file by say average prizemoney ranking, you will be able to browse the list and get a feel for how the lower average prizemoney horses compare to the higher ones. Being able to do this for the different system criteria (once they are all included) will help you quickly identify which minimum and maximum bounds are best for your system. (Note: In Excel you use the SORT option on the pull down DATA menu to sort data).

A explanation of the spreadsheet columns is as follows:

DATE	Race Date
DOW	Day of Week (sun =1 thru sat =7)
JUMP	Jump Time
TRACK	Track Name
C	Character code for track eg S for Sydney, M for Melbourne etc
DIST	Race Distance
G	Track Condition
PRIZEMONEY	Race Prizemoney
CLASS	Race Class
LIMW	Limit Weight
AB	avBase race class figure
FS	Field size
FU	First uppers in race (number of)
LW	Last start winners in race (number of)
RN	Race Number
TN	TAB Number
4	4th last start finishing position
3	3rd last start finishing position
2	2nd last start finishing position
1	last start finishing position
HORSE	Horse Name
BP	Barrier
WGHT	Listed Weight
STS	Horse Starts
PL1	career wins
PL2	career seconds
PL3	career thirds
WIN%	Win%
PLC%	Plc%
API	Average Prizemoney Index (prizemoney div by by no starts div by 1000)
DAYS	Days to Last Start
DAY2	Days to 2nd Last Start
DAY3	Days to 3rd Last Start
RB	Runs Back from spell
AGE	Horse Age
SEX	Horse Sex
$R	Prizemoney Rank
WR	Win% Rank
PR	Place% Rank
$DIFF	Race Prizemoney Difference
DDIST	Race Distance Difference
DDLBD	Difference relative to Last Best Distance
D	Distance Okay indicator
TC	This Course (really means track)
MET	Metrop last start
SAT	Saturday last start
FAV	Favourite last start
IMP	Y or N for improver pattern bonus
WNF	Y or N for predicted to be in winning form
IN	Days from last start to when predicted to be in form
OUT	Days from last start to when predicted to be out of form
DWGT	Change in weight
L3ODDS	3rd Last Start Price
L2ODDS	2nd Last Start Price
LSODDS	Last Start Price
RODDS	Rated odds in bookie format
RODDS$	Rated odds in decimal dividend format
RLEN	Rated Length
RP	Rated position ranking
BRR	Better Ratings Ranking
PRR	Plus Ratings Ranking
WINDIV	Win Divy
PLCDIV	Plc Divy
SPDIV	Starting Price Divs (only if market criteria used)
SPR	Starting Price Ranking
FIN	Finishing Position
MG-1	Margin Last Start
MG-2	Margin 2nd Last Start
MG-3	Margin 3rd Last Start
ST-1	Last Start Rating
ST-2	2nd Last Start Rating
ST-3	3rd Last Start Rating
PEAK	Peak Distance Rating
BASE	Base Rating
G-1	Going (track condition) at last start
G-2	Going at 2nd last start
G-3	Going at 3rd last start
T-1	Turn position last start
T-2	Turn position 2nd last start
T-3	Turn position 3rd last start
S-1	Settling position at last start
LFS	Last start Field Size
TDS	This Distance Starts
TDW	This Distance Wins
TD2	This Distance 2nds
TD3	This Distance 3rds
TCS	This Course Starts
TCW	This Course Wins
TC2	This Course 2nds
TC3	This Course 3rds
FUS	First Up Starts
FUW	First Up Wins
FU2	First Up 2nds
FU3	First Up 3rds
FGS	Fast Going Starts
FGW	Fast Going Wins
GGS	Good Going Starts
GGW	Good Going Wins
DGS	Dead Going Starts
DGW	Dead Going Wins
SGS	Slow Going Starts
SGW	Slow Going Wins
HGS	Heavy Going Starts
HGW	Heavy Going Wins
COMMENT	Program (or user) inserted comment
JOCKEY	Jockey Name
ALL	Allowance
WOLW	Weight over Lowest Weight
TRAINER	Trainer Name
SYSTEMNAME	System Name
BRT	Better Ratings rating
PRT	Plus Ratings rating
BODDS	Better Ratings rated prices (only if you run a BR$ system)
PODDS	Plus Ratings rated prices (only if you run a PR$ system)
LTRACK	last track name abbreviation
LR	last race number
LCLAS	last race class
LA	last race age restriction
LSEX	last race sex restriction
LTIME	last race winner’s time
LALL	last race jockey allowance
MYCALC	MyCalc value (or normally displayed rating)
CR	MyCalc ranking
GAP	MyCalc gap position
GAPDIFF	MyCalc gap difference
GAPPROP	MyCalc gap percentage
QNDIV	Quinella Divy
EXDIV	Exacta Divy
TTDIV	Trifecta Divy
FFDIV	First Four Divy

System Analyser Output

The System Analyser output is an HTML file which reports performance for every System Selector criteria (and more) so you can see performance contributions for individual criteria values. An abbreviated sample output can be found by clicking here.

Following are the descriptions of the data columns in the System Analyser output:

Following the above columns are two horizontal bar charts - the first for percentage strike rate and the second for percentage profit (only positive values capped at 100% are graphed). Of the above columns the only one that requires further explanation is the Impact Value which are numbers centred around 1 where less than 1 indicates the strike rate is less than the average for all horses in the test and more than 1 indicates the strike rate is greater than the average. (They are better than strike rates for comparison purposes because strike rates by themselves are influenced by filed sizes and individual horse win chances. They are particular good for doing comparisons from one set of criteria to another - eg when you are trying to decide which rule is best to apply next).

Staking Analyser Output

The Staking Analyser output is a CSV file that loads into your spreadsheet program and reports performance of your system bets based on the application of various staking plans. The option to run win or place staking analysis is made via radio button selections at the point where you would normally run System Analyser.

TAB Results File

Free files of NSW TAB results for past meetings are available for download via the "Download TAB Results" option off the main pull down FILE menu (the one you get to when you first fire up the program and get a blank screen). The files are usually updated around the beginning of each month and clients are advised by email exactly when this occurs.

Once installed, the results file (a) allows TAB results to be displayed alongside race information in the Price Predictor part of the program and (b) allows profit and loss calculations to be determined during back testing of systems in System Selector.

Note: The main results file is named NSWDIVSX.DBF but two additional files are also available namely PLACE.DBF containing place and first four results and MARKET.DBF containing final TAB prices for all starters.

Race TAB Live

Race TAB Live is available off the pull down RUN menu and allows automatic access to scratchings, pre-race prices and post-race results via the Internet from the various TABs. It is most frequently used on race day morning to automatically update scratchings and on race day evenings to automatically update TAB results (a handy daily option to having to wait until the end of each month for the master TAB result download files).

In the top left hand corner of the Race TAB Live window are the following radio buttons for selecting the TAB data source:

• NSW. This radio button selects Tabcorp NSW data via their Live Odds Service (requires a Tabcorp NSW Internet betting account and free subscription to their Live Odds Service). The first time you use this option you must use the "Tabcorp User Details" button to enter your Tabcorp registered website user login email address and password.
• VIC. This radio button selects Tabcorp Victorian data via their Live Odds Service (requires a Tabcorp Victorian Internet betting account and free subscription to their Live Odds Service). The first time you use this option you must use the "Tabcorp User Details" button to enter your Tabcorp registered website user login email address and password.
• QLD/SA/NT. This radio button selects UNiTAB data via a UNiTAB account login. The first time you use this option you must use the "UNiTAB User Details" button to enter your UNiTAB account number and password.
• QLD/SA/NT (no account required). This radio button selects UNiTAB data without requiring a login. Note this is the quickest option to get started with because no login is required. Data however is sourced from UNiTAB's Tabonline web site and as such is the least guaranteed (to remain stable) of the above data sources.

Next on the Race TAB Live window is a date drop down list for selecting the date (today or tomorrow are the defaults with only the UNiTAB non-account login option allowing past days). Then comes the "Get Latest TAB Data" button to start retrieving the TAB data plus the following check boxes for determining what data is to be collected when you click the "Get Latest TAB Data" button:

• Current Races Only. This check button selects only those races due to be run within the next hour or thereabouts (in the case of the UNiTAB no-account option where 24 hour times are not used this can also include the first races of meetings to be held later in the day). This option is quicker than the default as less races need to be load so this is the one you would use when betting race to race.
• Update Extra Form. Checking this box forces Extra Form pages to be updated and saved to disk so they can be recalled later without having to be re-generated (they can later be recalled by double mouse clicking the track name in the lower left hand list box of meetings).
• Update Jockeys. Checking this box forces jockey names and allowances to be updated. Note if you don't check this box you still get a choice of viewing jockey updates.
• Include Non-Bet Selector Meetings. Checking this box allows data to be collected and displayed for gallops meetings not loaded into Bet Selector.
• Include Trots and Greyhounds. Checking this box allows data to be displayed for Trots and Greyhound races as well as gallops (normally trots and greyhounds are excluded).

Once the above setting have been set and you click "Get Latest TAB Data" the large middle list box will fill with details of all the races you requested data for. Then you can (depending on program version) double left mouse click a race to get the Tote Pro dialogue for that race or double right mouse click a race to get the Price Predictor Form dialogue for the race. There is also a "Get IAS Super Prices" button at the top right for accessing IAS prices (for display in the top right list box alongside rated prices and TAB prices) and "Open in IAS Web site" and "Open in TAB Web Site" buttons for opening the selected race in the IAS web site or respective TAB web site.

Finally there are a number of buttons across the bottom of the window for generating Price Predictor style reports for all races in the large middle list box.

MyCalc

More Help

If you have any questions please email them to info@capitalinfo.com.au

For more details on Bet Selector contact:
Neale Yardley, Email info@capitalinfo.com.au
Capital Information Services, PO Box 1435, Kingscliff NSW, Australia 2487

Ph + 61 (0) 415 295 675 (best from 10am - 12 noon Sydney time, Mon - Fri)

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