Load and Go Greyhounds
Dr. Pender Noriega
Online Help
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Thank you for purchasing Load and Go Greyhounds (LGG). LGG is the result of my statistical analysis of tens of thousands of greyhound races and hundreds of potential factors and combinations of factors in determining the outcome of those races. LGG will rank the dogs in a race and provide additional alerts to help you pick races you can win. For most tracks you can download files from the Internet, in order to keep your dog database up-to-date without introducing your own typo graphical errors. In fact, it takes just minutes to download the required data for a set of races, import them into LGG and process the results.
Your computer must be running Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000 or XP and have at least 30MB of free hard drive space. Even an older, modest computer will provide good performance with LGG.
As with any Windows program, you will note that some menu items have shortcut keys listed, such as Ctrl+N for creating a New Race File. Also, menus can be accessed with Alt and the underlined letter in the menu name. The same goes for buttons in the various screens, Alt and the underlined letter performs the same action as clicking the button with the mouse.
Good luck and enjoy the races!
Very Important: If you currently have an older version of Load and Go Greyhounds installed, you MUST uninstall it prior to installing this new version. Go to the Start Menu, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs and double-click Load and Go Greyhounds. If you are prompted whether you want to remove shared components, answer no. This will leave your data intact as well as other components that may be used by other programs in your computer.
To install Load and Go Greyhounds, insert the CD into your computer. If the installation doesn't start automatically, open the CD drive in My Computer and double-click on Setup.exe.
Very Important: During the installation process, you may be presented with dialog boxes stating that the installation is trying to replace an existing file on your system and the existing file is newer. You will be asked if you want to keep the existing file: answer YES. Many programs will present you with this option during installation and 99% of the time you should answer yes to keep your existing file. Additionally, you may be presented with a dialog box stating that certain system files are out-of-date on your computer and need to be updated to continue. These files have been updated by Microsoft and are needed to access the database in Load and Go Greyhounds. The updated files address security concerns that have been discovered in many Microsoft products that access databases. If you wish to use Load and Go Greyhounds you will need to allow the setup program to update these files.
After installation it is recommended that you shutdown and restart your computer.
Prior to using the program, please take the time to read the manual found in Load and Go Greyhounds in Programs on the Windows Start menu. The first time you run the program (in that same Start menu location) you will be prompted to register the program. Use the registration information provided with the CD.
If the program won't start after installation and your computer uses Windows 95 or Windows 98, open the CD drive in My Computer (right-click the CD drive and select Open) and run the appropriate DCOM patch. This patch is from Microsoft and is required to use newer database files on older versions of Windows.
If you decide to uninstall Load and Go Greyhounds,
simply open Control Panel on the Windows Start Menu, then open Add/Remove
Programs. Look for Load and Go Greyhounds and double-click to remove.
Very, very important: when you are prompted about removing shared files,
click the button “Remove None”. This will leave components that might
be in use by other programs in place and it will also leave any race files and
the file containing your dog database.
In order to process a race and rank the dogs in a race, LGG requires the results of previous races for each dog in the race. After the dogs' information is updated, you then need a race file listing all of the dogs running in each race. You then process the race file and LGG presents you with the results. The procedure then is to:
1. Update the previous race data for each dog.
2. Create a race file listing all dogs running in each race.
3. Process the race file.
4. Review the results.
While you can certainly enter the race data from race programs yourself, most people would prefer to harness the power of the Information Age and download the data from the Internet. The following sections discuss both the Internet download method and manual data entry.
Generally you can find the data needed to process a race on the Internet. LGG provides an Import function that allows you to load data files retrieved from the Internet. There are several potential formats for the data found on the Internet. LGG as installed from the CD can import from two formats - Rosnet and DogPak/QuickDog.
Rosnet
Rosnet is a subscription service found at http://www.rosnet2000.com/. For a fee, you can download files that look quite similar to the printed racing program offered by tracks around the country. Thus, a single file downloaded from Rosnet lists each dog posted in each of the races at a given track on a given day, and for each dog, the file lists the data for the last 6 races run by that dog. This is all the information needed by LGG to update the dog race data and to create a race file listing all the dogs running in each race.
While viewing the data file at the Rosnet web site, you must save the file to your computer in order to import it. In your web browser, pull down the File menu and select Save As... Change the Save as type to Text File (*.txt) and then type ROS.txt in the File name box. Be sure to note where in your computer you are saving the file. It might be best to always save the file to your Desktop. Next, in LGG, start the Import utility from the Dogs or Races menu or by clicking the toolbar button with the large arrow. From the Import utility dialog box, click the button for Rosnet. Next you will be prompted to select the Rosnet file to import from. This is the file you downloaded from Rosnet. Next you will be prompted to name a new race file - this is the file LGG uses to list the dogs posted in each race. Name the race file something you can easily remember, for example, "Tampa 050923" - the name of the track and the date of the races. In the next dialog box, click Start Import. After a few moments, the import will be complete. After any import, it is highly recommended that you run the Update Running Style utility from the Dogs menu. If you do not, many of the processing decisions made by LGG may be incorrect. Update Running Style is covered in a later section. After the import, you are ready to Process the race for the results. Processing and the results are discussed in more detail later, but here is a step-by-step summarization of the entire process, from Rosnet to results:
1. Go to Rosnet
2. Select the correct race (Date, track, time)
3. Click Entry Data Link
4. Click on the File menu, then Save As (make sure you save to the Desktop or another location you can easily remember)
5. Name the file ROS.TXT
6. Save as type: Text file (*.txt)
7. Click Save
8. Open LGG
9. Click on the button with the black arrow (Import) from the toolbar
10. Click on Import from Rosnet in the dialog box
11. Select ROS.TXT file saved in steps 4 - 7
12. Click Open
13. Name the race file, eg: ‘Derby100605’ - (track and date)
14. Click Save
15. Click Start Import on the dialog box
16. Click OK on the next dialog box
17. Close Import dialog box
18. Click on the WMR button on the toolbar to adjust running styles
19. Click Start from dialogue box
20. Click OK
21. Click on Process button from toolbar
22. Select the race file created in step 13
23. Click Open
24. Click on Start in the dialog box
25. Print the results.
DogPak/QuickDog
DogPak/QuickDog both use two files for the data required for LGG. Results files (lines.txt) list the past race data for all the dogs at a track while Setup files (setup.txt) list all the races on a particular day and the dogs posted in these races. DogPak files are available for a fee at http://www.greyhounds.com/, the originators of the DogPak format. Alternately, QuickDog requires you install the QuickDog program and subscribe to their download service - both are found at http://quickracingsoftware.com/dogs.htm.
If you subscribe to QuickDog, use the Export capability in QuickDog to create the lines.txt and setup.txt files:
1. Select race date and performance (evening or matinee), click on date performance, this brings up the handicap page for that performance.
2. In menu bar, click on Convert. In the pop-up window, click the Format button until it changes to LINES.TXT. Next click the EXPORT button.
3. You will then be presented with a calendar window to select a date range for lines.txt. You MUST include today's performance as TO DATE, but you can go back as you wish to include previous performances for all dog. It is recommended you include at least 90 days to pick up any new dogs performances that may go back that far. For example click on month (07) day (01) year (2005) TO month (10) day (06) year (2005).
4. After selecting the date range, click the right mouse button anywhere in the date selection window and the export will begin.
5. The export routine will create LINES.TXT and save it to the folder C:\dogpak\<TrackID> where <TrackID> the two letter abbreviation for the track.
6. When the window indicates the export is complete, click the right mouse button to continue.
7. Now click the Format button to change from LINES.TXT to SETUP.TXT.
8. Click the EXPORT button and QuickDog will create SETUP.TXT and save it to the folder C:\dogpak\<TrackID> where <TrackID> the two letter abbreviation for the track.
9. Exit QuickDog and start up LGG to import and process the race.
After downloading the lines.txt and setup.txt files from the DogPak web site or after exporting them from QuickDog, start the Import utility from the Dogs or Races menu or by clicking the toolbar button with the large arrow. From the Import utility dialog box, click the button for DogPak/QuickDog. Next you will be prompted to select the setup file to import from. This is the setup.txt file you downloaded from DogPak or exported from QuickDog. Next you will be prompted to select the lines file to import from. This is the lines.txt file you downloaded from DogPak or exported from QuickDog. Next you will be prompted to name a new race file - this is the file LGG uses to list the dogs posted in each race. Name the race file something you can easily remember, for example, "Tampa 050923" - the name of the track and the date of the races. In the next dialog box, click Start Import. After a few moments, the import will be complete. After any import, it is highly recommended that you run the Update Running Style utility from the Dogs menu. If you do not, many of the processing decisions made by LGG may be incorrect. Update Running Style is covered in a later section. After the import, you are ready to Process the race for the results. Processing and the results are discussed in more detail later, but here is a step-by-step summarization of the entire process to import and process the results:
1. Open LGG
2. Click on the button with the black arrow (Import) from the toolbar
3. Click on Import from DogPak/QuickDog in the dialog box
4. Select the LINES.TXT file downloaded from the DogPak web site or exported from QuickDog
5. Click Open
6. Select the SETUP.TXT file downloaded from the DogPak web site or exported from QuickDog
7. Click Open
8. Name the race file, eg: ‘Derby100605’ - (track and date)
9. Click Save
10. Click Start Import on the dialog box
11. Click OK on the next dialog box
12. Close Import dialog box
13. Click on the WMR button on the toolbar to adjust running styles
14. Click Start from dialogue box
15. Click OK
16. Click on Process button from toolbar
17. Select the race file created in step 8
18. Click Open
19. Click on Start in the dialog box
20. Print the results.
Other Import Formats
If your track offers data downloads and you would like us to consider adding a direct import for these files, contact us via our web site - http://www.geocities.com/pender_noriega. Also, be sure to check our web site for updates to the import routine.
PEN TEST File
LGG also allows you to start your dog database from our older program (often referred to as PEN) by importing a PEN TEST file. Start the Import utility from the Dogs or Races menu or by clicking the toolbar button with the large arrow. From the Import utility dialog box, click the button for PEN TEST File. Next you will be prompted to select the PEN TEST file to import from. You will not be prompted to name a race file with this import method - PEN TEST files only contain past race data for dogs. In the next dialog box, click Start Import. After a few moments, the import will be complete. After any import, it is highly recommended that you run the Update Running Style utility from the Dogs menu. If you do not, many of the processing decisions made by LGG may be incorrect. Update Running Style is covered in a later section.
If you are unable to download data from the Internet, or if you wish to review a dog's detailed information, LGG provides the means to manually update all data. Start out by selecting Add/Edit/Delete Dogs from the Dogs menu or click the toolbar button with the dog head. The resulting window gives access to all the greyhounds in your current database. The arrow buttons with "Greyhound: 1 of 999" are known collectively as the navigation bar. Clicking the arrows with the vertical lines move you to the first and last dogs in the list. The plain arrow buttons move you back and forth one dog at a time. Obviously it can take quite some time to step through hundreds of dogs, so use the Search button to quickly find any dog you wish to update.
The top half of the window is basic information about the greyhound while the bottom half is the past race performances of this dog.
To add a new dog, you must click the Add Dog button (or press Alt-A on the keyboard). To delete the dog currently showing in the window, you may click the Delete This Dog button but note that Delete Old Dogs on the Dogs menu automatically deletes all greyhounds that have not raced since a date which you select. This feature is discussed later in the manual.
Edit any of the information as necessary by simply typing corrections or for some entries, selecting from the pull-down lists. Dog's Name can be all caps or mixed case, it makes no difference to the operation of the program. Running Style may be Rail, Mid or Wide. Note that Update Running Style on the Dogs menu automatically determines all your greyhounds' running style based on their past performances. This feature is explained in a later section. Number of Starts, Firsts, Seconds and Thirds is self explanatory - note that it is automatically updated when you import data.
Past performances are added with the Add Race Line button - note you can press Alt-L on the keyboard. This is handy when you have a lot of data to enter - no need to reach for the mouse. Past performances are presented in date order. If you manually add one out of order, click the Re-sort Lines button to reorder things. If you have a mistaken entry, type corrections, or delete the entire line with the Delete Current button.
Past performances consist of:
· The date of the race in the format mm/dd/yyyy
· The number of the race
· The length of race:
o Short - less than 3/8 mile
o Long - 3/8 mile up to but less than 7/16 mile
o Really long - 7/16 mile or longer
· Win time of the race - notice there is no colon
· Post position the dog raced from
· Brk - the dog's standing at the break
· 1/8 - the dog's standing at the eighth
· Str - the dog's standing at the stretch
· Finish - the dog's finishing position
· Length - the number of lengths the dog finished behind the winner or the number of lengths the dog won the race by
· The dog's finishing time for the race - notice there is no colon
· The official odds on the dog
· The grade of the race - LGG recognizes the following grades:
|
AA |
A |
B |
C |
D |
E |
J |
M |
L |
AS |
AT |
BS |
BT |
CS |
CT |
DS |
DT |
As you type a race line, press the Tab key twice after each entry to move to the right. Shift-Tab moves back to the left. Remember, Alt-L adds a new race line while keeping your fingers on the keyboard.
If you are unable to download data from the Internet, or if you wish to review or make last minute changes to the dogs running in a race, LGG provides the means to manually update race files. To create a new race file, select Create New Race File from the Races menu or click the toolbar button with the white sheet of paper. Name the race file something you can easily remember, for example, "Tampa 050923" - the name of the track and the date of the races. To edit an existing race file, select Open Existing Race File to Edit from the Races menu or click the toolbar button with the yellow folder. You might also see the desired race file listed at the bottom of the Races menu (LGG remembers the last 5 race files you have opened).
The resulting window shows one race at a time. The arrow buttons with "Race Number: 1 of 99" are known collectively as the navigation bar. Clicking the arrows with the vertical lines move you to the first and last races in the file while the plain arrow buttons move you back and forth one race at a time.
The top half of the window is basic information about the race while the bottom half displays all the dogs posted in this race.
To add a new race, click the Add Race button (or press Alt-A on the keyboard). To delete the race currently showing in the window click the Delete This Race button. Edit any of the information as necessary by simply typing corrections or for some entries, selecting from the pull-down lists. The date of the race should be entered in the format mm/dd/yyyy. Acceptable distance and grade selections are described in the previous section of this manual.
Add a dog to the race by clicking the Add Post button - note you can press Alt-P on the keyboard. This is handy when you have a lot of races to enter - no need to reach for the mouse. Note that when you start to type the dog's name, it is automatically selected from the existing database. Once the correct dog is displayed, there is no need to continue typing, press Alt-P (Add Post button) to add the next post, Alt-A (Add Race button) to add the next race, or click the Close button if you are finished with this race file.
Any number of dogs can be posted to a race, but it is your responsibility to insure the post numbers are correct. LGG normally increments the post number automatically for you, but if you delete a dog from the middle, you must renumber manually by typing corrections. If you manually add a post out of order, click the Re-sort Posts button to reorder things. If you have a mistaken entry, type corrections, or delete the entire post with the Delete Current button.
Once you have imported or entered dog and race file data, you are ready to process your races. If the race file is open, it is best to close it to insure all of your changes are saved to the file first. Select Process Existing Race File from the Races menu or click the toolbar button with "Proc" displayed. Select the correct race file and click the Open button. Click the Start button in the next dialog box and in a few moments the race results will be displayed on the screen.
Rarely you may be presented with an error report. This occurs when LGG cannot find one of the dogs posted in a race. This can occur for a number of reasons. For example, if you import a DogPak setup file that that does not match the lines (results) file or, you may have edited or deleted a dog that you already entered into a race file. Correct the race file or add the missing dog to your database and process the race file again.
Once you have processed a race, you may want a printed copy of the race results. While viewing the results (if you have closed the window, see the next section to re-open the results file), select Print from the File menu.
To view the results of a previously processed race file, simply select View Previously Processed Race Results from the Races menu. Results files have the same name as the race file they come from with " - Results" appended to the end.
Though LGG processes a large number of variables for each race, the race results are relatively straightforward.
Load and Go Greyhounds - Version 1.0 Results for Tampa 050923.rac
Prepared on 02-Sep-05
*** ************************************************************* ***
DATE: 09/23/05 RACE # 1 GRADE: C DISTANCE: S
*** ************************************************************* ***
PP Dog Score Cla Rec AvSp Last EaSp LaSp Alerts --------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 GALLANT RAGE 15 4 4 4 2 0 1 4 TRUE EAGLE 11 3 3 3 0 0 2 7 RON JOLLY 8 2 2 0 0 4 0 2 SMOKIE DANCER 7 0 1 2 4 0 0 6 OSHKOSH DIXIE 5 0 0 0 0 5 0 Extra Break Adv - Break Adv 5 USA INGRID 5 1 0 1 3 0 0 8 LJ'S PATS DODGER 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 TAKE OFF 3 0 0 0 1 2 0 |
The top of the results file indicates version of LGG, the race file processed and the date it was processed. Following this each race is listed with a header displaying the date of the race, the race number, grade and distance. Following the race header are all of the dogs listed in score order. The following information is presented for each dog in the race:
· Post position
· Name
· Total score given by LGG
· Class - weighted score for the class of races previously raced in
· Record - weighted score for in the money finishes
· Average Speed - weighted score for finish times in previous races
· Last Speed - weighted score for finish time in its last race
· Early Speed - weighted score for breaking speed
· Late Speed - weighted score for finishing speed
Note that higher points are better in all of the scoring columns.
Additionally, LGG posts alerts the mechanics of individual dogs or for combinations of dogs when appropriate. Alerts for individual dogs are placed at the end of the dog's line in the results report while alerts for interactions between dogs are listed below the last dog in the report.
Individual Alerts
· Break Adv - dog has higher early speed than the other dogs in the race.
· Extra Break Adv - dog has much higher early speed than the other dogs in the race.
· Back/rail runner - dog likes to run at the back of the pack and on the rail, often disrupting dogs on the inside boxes.
· Late Spd - dog sprints well at the end of the race.
· Must Play - this dog will almost certainly place in the money.
Interaction Alerts
· Speed Gap between <post number> and <post number> - among the fastest dogs in the race, there is a speed gap between these two dogs, in other words, a significant speed advantage exists for the fastest of these two dogs (refer to AvSp score column) and all dogs faster.
· 6 Post will cut across, play 678 - the 6 post runs to the rail, has good early speed and will disrupt all the dogs in the inside posts. The 6, 7, 8 posts are likely to place in the money.
· 4 Post will block, play 1234 - the 4 post runs mid or wide and has good early speed. The 4 will prevent any rail or mid runners in the 5 - 8 posts from running their race and thus the 1, 2, 3, 4 posts will have an advantage.
· There is a wedge, play 1278 - the 2 post has early speed and runs wide, the 7 post has early speed and runs to the rail - this will block the 3 - 6 posts and give advantage to the 1, 2, 7 and 8 posts.
· 7 Post will cut across, play 1278 - the 7 post has extra early speed and runs to the rail, disrupting the middle posts - this gives advantage to the 1, 2, 7 and 8 posts.
· Wide 5 Split - the 3 and 4 posts run to the rail or are slow out of the box while the 5 and 6 posts are wide runners. If the 1, 2, 7 and 8 do not have the best early speed (EaSp) scores, they will likely be taken out of the race and shouldn't be played.
· >>> DO NOT PLAY! <<< - the race is simply too close to make any meaningful predictions; pass on this race.
· >>> DO NOT PLAY TRIFECTA or QUINIELA! <<< - the dogs are very close. You might be able to play the top couple of dogs to show-place-win, but do not attempt a trifecta, quiniela or other box bet.
· Play the 8 in any quiniela bets- if you are betting a quiniela on this race, but sure to include the 8 post.
· Include the 1 - the one has good late speed and the preferred post position, include it in any bets.
· The 3 has a split - the 2 and 4 post will spread away from the 3 post, allowing it to run free and clear.
· The 4 has a split - the 3 and 5 post will spread away from the 4 post, allowing it to run free and clear.
· The 5 has a split - the 4 and 6 post will spread away from the 5 post, allowing it to run free and clear.
Update Running Style evaluates past performances for each dog to determine their natural tendency to run Rail, Mid or Wide. Several factors depend upon the accuracy of the running style, so it is recommended you Update Running Style each time you import data or manually update data. You are reminded of this each time you import or, if it is have 30 days since the last time you ran the update.
Start the update by selecting Update Running Style from the Dogs menu or by clicking the toolbar button labeled WMR.
In the money finishes from previous seasons may not hold much weight in determining a dogs performance this season. As such, at the beginning of each season, you may want to zero-out the number of Starts, Firsts, Seconds and Thirds for all dogs. This can be done by selecting Zero All Starts, 1st, 2nd, 3rd from the Dogs menu.
After using LGG for a few seasons, older dogs will soon accumulate many past performances. You can trim away performances from any specific date using this function. For example, past performances from more than a year ago may not be a good indication of a dog's current performance. Start this procedure by selecting Delete Old Race Data from the Dogs menu. Next you will be prompted to select the cutoff date - the default is one year ago. After you click Start, all past performances for all dogs that are prior to your selected cutoff date will be deleted from the database.
Use this function to automatically remove dogs that have not raced since a particular date. Start this procedure by selecting Delete Old Dogs from the Dogs menu. Next you will be prompted to select the cutoff date - the default is one year ago. After you click Start, all dogs that have not raced since your selected cutoff date will be deleted from the database.
Occasionally you may want to refer back to the processing results for old race, but after a few months, they are mostly just cluttering up the file windows when you are selecting new races to process. This function will delete all the race and results files created prior to a date you select. Start this procedure by selecting Delete Old Results and Race Files from the Races menu. Next you will be prompted to select the cutoff date - the default is 90 days ago. After you click Start, all race and results files created prior to your selected cutoff date will be deleted from your computer.
Contact us for technical support via the web site:
www.geocities.com/pender_noriega
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