How does Betfair know when a race starts?

they would have no delay feed from sky
also prob have radios on as well

They use a very high-tech process --The flow chart for this process:
GATES
  I
OPEN
  I
PRESS
  I
BUTTON

They use the timekeepers from the AFL

good question mib ... i dont know the answer lol

but i do know in the US ... they suspend betting ... about 1 min prior ... to the start ... gotta get in quicker than oz ... if watching the streams

If they have a no delay feed from Sky or some other provider , is someone then sitting at a control station ready to press  "suspended" ? This person must have the reflexes of a fighter pilot.
Put up "suspended"a  fraction of a second too early and tens of thousands of $$$ worth of bets don't get on ,a fraction too late and some punters get an unfair advantage. 
Could the starters button be hooked up somehow?

my guess is they have software linked to a TAB account. The TAB must be electronically linked to on course activities.

Either that or theres a guy sitting above aust in a hot air balloon with a mighty good pair of binoculars who makes a call to BF via his mobile.If so, he clearly is not a customer of vodafone

Where's Harry Solomans when you need him ?

I don't think you can afford to over-analyse this. Guys sits in a room and presses a button when the stalls open. Same with AFL and any other sport. Someone is paid to watch and press "suspend".

Of course, someone could just ring up Matty Clarke and ask the question
May I suggest 75 of us ring him at exactly the same moment?

who gives a toss????? seriously just wasted 3mins that i cant get back

Didn't you read the subject? It clearly gave away what was going to be discussed. Clearly you only have yourself to blame.

now u just wasted another 30seconds of my time

You should see my thread in the Darts forum, it will surely be worth your time

Loggy, wtf?

As Harry Solomons in the 1930's and Pittsburgh Phil (on here) have worked out  there is big bucks at stake in getting it right.

classic jinx cheers ... i remembered reading about that one years ago


Harry Solomons

The phantom race-call

In 1939, 3XY racecaller Harry Solomons had a grand idea for a scam.

At a small meeting at Ascot pony track, he had an accomplice cut the wires of his rival radio broadcasters just as a race was about to start. Solomons then claimed there had been a hold-up at the gates, while in fact the real race was being run.

“… and the reason is Buoyancy. Buoyancy has played up very badly at the start a, very very poor exhibition.”

That was the sign for his accomplices listening off-track that Buoyancy had just won, so they could plunge last-minute bets. In the meantime, other accomplices started a fight outside the broadcasting boxes so the rival radio men couldn’t hear what Solomons was saying.

With that, Solomons called the entire race from memory, perfectly to time. Buoyancy saluted, and bookies around the country paid out.

Unfortunately for Solomons, his mate had been a little slow with the tinsnips, and half a cry of “They’re off…” had escaped from one of the other stations.

Suspicions were raised, and Solomons fled to Fiji, where he was later picked up. Oddly, because off-course bookmaking was illegal, he wasn’t charged with defrauding bookies, but was jailed for cutting the other broadcasters’ wires.

See, Loggy. That's why these threads are started. So we can read great stories such as this last one. Brilliant stuff.

and after the Harry Solomons affair ,all actual (note : not  scheduled)race start times were published in the race results in the next day's press.