Royal Ascot STATS on Twitter

Can Black Caviar, seen here cantering in Newmarket this week with Paddy Bell in the saddle, record a faster top speed than Frankel next week? STATS will reveal all! Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Data from the TurfTrax Sectional Timing And Tracking System (STATS) will be available via Twitter for the first time during next week’s Royal Ascot fixture.

STATS information has only previously been made available on the day to media and broadcasters on-course and to selected news agencies, but from next Tuesday racing professionals and members of the public can have access to the most up to date information by following @TurfTrax on the social networking site.

Mike Maher, Managing Director of TurfTrax, said, “Rolling out STATS on 19 days this year covering most of the major festivals is certain to create a higher level of interest in the data.

"With two speed merchants in Frankel and Black Caviar set to line up in different races at Royal Ascot it will be fascinating to see who covers their ground quickest by furlong and, of course, which of them records the highest speed.”

TurfTrax announced earlier this year that its Sectional Timing And Tracking system would be in operation for almost two-thirds of the QIPCO British Champions Series races in 2012 following its successful deployment on QIPCO British Champions Day last October, but the return to Ascot presents its own unique challenges.

“The anticipated level of radio activity at the Royal Meeting combined with the size of the crowd and number of temporary buildings means that despite extensive testing we will be unable re-create the race day environment until all infrastructure is in place and the event begins,” explains Maher.

“Although the system performed remarkably well on QIPCO British Champions Day, it’s for this reason that we have taken a decision to provide the most accurate coverage possible across the full width of the straight mile and the first four furlongs of the round course. This will enable us to provide more than 90% coverage of all the meeting’s Group and Listed races.

“The operational experience we will gain during Royal Ascot will help us to further refine the system configuration in order that we can achieve full course coverage at Ascot again in the future.”

TurfTrax STATS data for Royal Ascot will be published in the Racing Post, on the TurfTrax website at www.turftrax.co.uk and sectional times for all seven QIPCO British Champions Series races will be available in the Stats & Results section of this website.