Arts & Sciences

A unique feature of the Equiform product is our proprietary internal fraction calculations. We find these figures extraordinarily useful. Why? Well, just as one inning cannot create a baseball game or one color a painting (except for maybe at the Guggenheim), we have found that one number is usually inadequate in evaluating the events of an entire race. The internal fractions are meaningful--the challenge is to effectively use these often ignored times as part of your overall handicapping analysis.

During a racing season, top thoroughbreds may run only six to ten times. Less valuable stock may race anywhere from ten to thirty times (or fifty, in the case of our old New York pal Murray Garren). In its entire career an animal may log only an hour or so of actual racing time. As an analogy, a single race might equate to one or two years "on the job" for a human being working 40 years. Most humans have good years and bad years or, in the case of our friends in the financial markets, great minutes and horrible minutes. Generally, one year of performance does not represent our overall abilities. And yet in racing we are often given one number to judge a critical 2 minutes in the life of the thoroughbred. At Equiform we have long viewed this as shortsighted, but this is something on which we have capitalized and are aiming to change. The minimal amount of track time a horse accumulates makes every race important.. Our research has shown that valuable insights are gained by analyzing specific segments of a race (the race within the race), and this information adds tremendous value to our own understanding of a horse's current CONDITION.

Our final number encompasses several key variables, and yet it is does not tell the whole story. Our internal numbers help you paint a more colorful portrayal of a horse's racing experience. We will go into more detail in later articles, but, for starters, our figures help you recognize how the animals energy was distributed over the entire race. This assists the player in deciphering the horse's true condition and potential.

We realize that all the nuances of horse racing cannot be reduced solely to numbers (see Introduction), and, importantly, we recognize that one number cannot tell the complete quantitative or "scientific" side of the handicapping equation. There is most definitely a qualitative or "artistic" aspect to the handicapping puzzle that you, as serious participants, welcome. By providing data our research indicates is pertinent, we build a unique and innovative "canvas" to which you add color.

This blending of art and science is unattainable with selection sheets and single number analysis. At Equiform our numbers are rigorously scrutinized for validity, but we never underestimate the players ability to add a personal "artistic" flourish.