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October 5, 2006

Trakus is a Massachusetts-based company (www.trakus.com) specializing in tracking systems and related technology services for sports and media. For horse racing, the Trakus system provides the ability--via sensor chips carried in saddlecloths and antennas positioned around the racetrack--to track each horse in a race electronically and digitally in real time. Information on individual horses is collected and displayed in various viewer-friendly animated forms.

The system was also officially rolled out September 13 at Woodbine in Ontario, where it has been undergoing extensive testing. “We’ve been working with Trakus for a couple of years now, helping them to refine the system,” said Andrew Macdonald, vice president of marketing and customer communications for Woodbine Entertainment Group. “At its core, Trakus provides great, accurate data, which is something the industry hasn’t had.”

Keeneland officials would agree. “Our goal with this technology is to provide fans with more precise racing coverage and information,” said director of broadcast and simulcasting G.D. Hieronymus.

He noted that at least for now, the product will be an experience only for Keeneland's on-track patrons. “We’ll be looking at ways to incorporate it into our simulcast signal, but with a short race meet, it doesn’t give us a lot of time for testing.”

During a race, Keeneland’s new LED tote board—another part of the extensive renovations—will show different versions of the race in progress. The main video portion will provide the standard video feed typical of any racetrack. But next to that will be the full running order of each horse in near real-time, using the Trakus data.

The two LED boards on either side of the main video display will show the animated Trakus signals--one featuring horses racing, the other using little tiles, called “chicklets” with the horse numbers on them, accurately showing the position of each horse throughout the race, with perhaps a second or so delay from realtime.

“Trakus is analyzing data 30 times a second to know exactly where these horses are,” noted Hieronymus. “For the normal racing fan, it will give them a real good way to keep up with their horse during a race.”

Once the horses are inside the sixteenth pole, the Trakus data display ends, so that fans aren’t led to false results--it is the photo finish camera that determines final placing, not Trakus.

Keeneland also has a dedicated in-house television channel for Trakus. Not only does it show live races, but also a variety of views after each race. The graphics could offer a jockey’s point of view, a birds-eye view or a rail angle, for example.

The channel also provides summaries of the speed of each horse, their fractional times during the race, the actual distance they traveled, and other data; some of which will also be available on the track’s website.

Website offerings also figure prominently at Woodbine, which plans to allow patrons to pick and choose various views of any race at any time. In addition, the track currently uses the Trakus chicklets on its simulcast feed, and makes available the various animated racing versions on its broadcast television shows as an aid for post-race analysis. “We think it can draw in new fans by having the “cool factor,” said Macdonald.

Overall, Woodbine officials have been very pleased with the system and the early reactions of horseplayers. “We thought there would be more of a reluctance to adopt it by the core fan, but that has not been entirely the case,” said Macdonald. “For the most part we have received more positive feedback, even from core fans, who are usually resistant to any changes.”

And Hieronymus would agree with Macdonald’s overall assessment of the technology’s potential: “What we are doing now is the tip of the iceberg.”

—By Patricia A. McQueen