Races 1, 3 and 6 at Turffontein on Thursday (25 August) will be used for further testing of the state-of-the-art Traxmeet system.
Tomorrow’s tests amount to a second round of intensive testing under race conditions of the in-race speed tracking system imported from Finland as part of 4Racing’s drive to modernise the South African horseracing viewing experience.
“The ultimate aim is to provide richer race data for form studiers while enhancing the 4RacingTV live broadcast experience,” says head of 4RacingTV, Stephen Watson.
4RacingTV has already carried out initial tests of the GPS-based Traxmeet system at Turffontein in the presence of the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) and most recently at the end of July.
The system provides race data such as sectional timing, live speed, horse position during races and fastest acceleration. The data will be utilised during local racing’s live broadcasts, as well as being made available to racing industry stakeholders online.
Trainers including Joe Soma, Paul Peter and Robyn Klaasen and jockeys Gavin Lerena and Jeffrey Syster have been part of the initial testing and indicated in their view that there was no hindrance to the jockey or horse.
“The system is already firmly established in Scandinavia and has performed admirably thus far under local conditions. We believe technology of this kind is a huge positive development for SA racing and we look forward to working with all industry stakeholders to take horseracing to the next level,” said Watson.
The aim is to soon include sectional timing, speed and position data in 4RacingTV live broadcast feeds as well as making this data available for download online post-race.
4Racing executives will be on hand at Turffontein Thursday 25 August, to brief interested parties on the Taxmeet system.
For any queries with regards to the tracking system, please contact Adam Brooke: [email protected]
Press release by: 4Racing on Wednesday, 24 August 2022.