Some Important Considerations...

Include -Exclude

Most rules may be entered as inclusions or exclusions. That is, you can include races/horses that fall within the specified parameters, or you can exclude races/horses that fall within the specified parameters. Click the left-hand checkbox to use a rule as an inclusion or the right-hand checkbox to use a rule as an exclusion.

For example, using the Race>Distance parameter:

	= include if Distance between 1000 and 1200
	= exclude if Distance between 1700 and 3200

In the first example above, only races between 1000m and 1200m will be analysed by this particular system. In the second example, all races between 1700m and 3200m will be ignored by this system

Negative/Positive Values

Some rules have both negative values and positive values. The negative values are most commonly used for rules where, for example, a horse is dropping in distance, dropping in weight, dropping in class value, relative to a previous start.

For a horse to pass the rule at left, it would need to be carrying between 2.5kg less than, and 1.0kg more than its prior run. Note that the parameter used in this example relates to Weight Carried (Crd). The parameter immediately below it relates to Handicap Weight (Hcp).

However, all winning margins are expressed as negative values to give you more flexibility – that is, a horse that won a race by 3.5 lengths would be defined in the System Developer as having a margin of -3.5. The second placegetter in that same race has a margin of +3.5 lengths. However, we don’t need to enter the ‘+’ sign – in the System Developer; all numerical values without a preceding minus sign are taken as positive values. Another example; a winning margin of between 4.5L and 6L would be expressed as MIN –6.0 MAX –4.5

This is more useful to you because you can specify not only horses that were winners, but horses that won by a specified margin or greater than a specified margin. Also, if you wanted to limit your potential selections to horses that had won their last start by any margin and horses that had finished up to one length behind the winner, your values would be: MIN -99.0 (to capture all winners) and MAX 1.0

The margins for horses that dead heated for a win are expressed as 0.0

Negative values are also useful for analysing other parameters such as Rating>Range, whereby not only can you enter rules defining the number of rating points (usually in kilos) that a horse is behind the top ranked selection in each race, but by expressing the range as a negative value, you can specify number of rating points by which the top ranked selection in each race is ahead of the second ranked selection.

For example, say you want to restrict the selections to top-ranked horses that are at least 5 rating points ahead of the second ranked horse, you would enter MIN –99.0 to MAX –5.0 The example at left relates to the Formline rating, but of course the ‘Range’ button can be used with any of the Rating parameters

The mix of negative and positive values as shown at left would deliver all top-ranked horses plus those horses whose Formline rating is up to one rating point less than the top-ranker. Values such as these would give you two selections in races where the two highest rating horses are very close in rating points.

Negative values can also be used with parameters such as the Form tab’s Distance Change, Weight Change, Class Value Change; the Horse tab’s Bog/Mud Factor, Placed/Won with a CVal difference, Jockey Allowance – and others.

Class Values

Class Values are a component of the Formline rating and could be described as 'field strength measurements' and although the scale is more or less open ended they generally range from a low of say –36.0 (kg) for a very ‘weak’ country race restricted to 2YO’s to approximately +12.0 for a strong metropolitan open race. A Maiden Handicap could be as weak as (say) –36.0 or as strong as (say) –10.0 depending on the exposed form of the competitors in that race.