Anyone use Proform Racing Database?

i just did a quick search on proform. reason being i have been using it for the last 10 months. i originally was using it in conjunction with raceform interactive.. however after raceform havent really updated their system or added any new features since i started using it, i decided not to re subscribe this year..

simon at proform has been given 100% in terms of customer service, even logging on to my laptop remotely while i was on a beach in goa and sorting a problem for me.. the guys at raceform were also very helpful . but simon is there answering my questions at 10pm!!!

he has also been very responsive to suggestions of features that i'd like to see added to the software... there have been several major upgrades to the software even in the time that ive used.. he is constantly looking to add features.. i havent even looked at the in running options he has added but im sure i will have a look soon.

so what does it do? well like raceform, it lets you search the database to ask an amazing amount of questions about all of the racing results in uk and the ireland over the last 14 years . not only will it do simple stuff like tell you the %ages of any trainer in say novice, handicap, mares, maiden etc,hurdles/ chases at any track... it can answer questions like what happened to every novice hurdle winner at sandown on its next run... and it can do this QUICKLY.

speed is where it definitely loses raceform interactive... raceform , im afraid is positive stone age in comparison when trying to to queries involve " past results"... proform can do stuff like give you the results of a search like .. what are a trainers results and percentages of using blinkers, but also looking at the possibility of the race before was the first time using blinkers... in reality  blinkers second time around .. this sort of query would take an eternity on raceform... in fact the guys at raceform will tell you to do this sort of stuff 6 months at a time . then add them up individually..

i really liked raceform and used it to make alot of money, but i would have liked to see improvements in the time that i used it and it seemed like it hadnt changed since it had been put together . it all seems quite "clunky".

proform wont cost cost you that much to give it a go.. the minimum amount is about 110 pounds for 8 weeks. if you are serious about this then thats not really that much to try something like proform out.

it is the sort of thing that you have to work at though... like raceform interactive, you have to be able to ask the right questions. it is not there just to spit out the results for you.. if it was that easy , nobody would be making any money.

I think I have short-listed this product once when looking for good racing research software, can you say how much the service costs or how many types of form aspect can be studied or am I just being lazy to not google the required data, a clue would be good though for us all to savour.

for me the best racing reserach software would allow individuals to add new types of data research based on common source data, thus making the sharing or owning of new edge refining PDPs ( profitable data profiles) as I like to call them.

cost is 11.75 to 13.75 pounds per week depending on length of subscription. minimum 8 weeks.

i will go through as many variables as possible.

date .. any combination of years or months from 1997...

horse..name, age , finishing position, jockey, trainer,sire and dam names, penalty, riders claim, headgear, sex, colour, country , pace variable, plus a few others.

last time out  horse, all of the above

course .. all uk and irish courses... with filters for just uk, or left and right handed courses

lto course all of the above

classification of race.. around 30 different types of races

lto classification... as above..

there are lots of ratings systems variations which i havent even touched

presentation... you can do a search on say nicky henderson novice hurdlers then you could have about 50 different ways of presenting the results... ie by age , course, race class, days since a last run,year, month, etc. course direction, going, etc...

preferences can then let you decide what results you actually see there are many variations.

typically for me it would be a query refering to a certain trainer...

so mines would trainer, runners, winners, % strike rate, average odds, average win odss, roi to bf..

then you double click into that overall summary of the results and you can have the complete set of results race by race , which then you have another whole set of variables to decide upon... ie a column showing all hurdle runs before, all chase runs before... sp, etc.. and each of these columns can be manipulated excel style..

to show lowest sp first etc... to see if the stable wins when the money is down etc..

then of course is my favourite function... if you get a query you like, you save it.

you update the system everyday to put in new results and the next days declarations..

you might have found a certain trainer that is doing well or badly with a certain set of circumstances and if this is one of your saved queries, then then system marks this up on a welcome screen and you wont miss one of your favourite queries if it come up..


there are other functions like.. you pick a race and put in a set of possibilities.. like novice hurdles over course and distance. you can go in and ask it to list the records of all trainers in the race with their record over cd..

it comes out like a small excel file where any ofi  the columns can be manipulated ie strike rate.. in ascending or decending order.

thats about enough.. there is an amazing amount of variable that you can put in or out...

its always at the end of the day up to you to ask the right questions...

like does a certain trainer do especially well with claiming jockeys or even badly..

in a minute, i can have a list of every trainer in the country and arrange them by strike rate...

there are a myriad of possibilities... its just a very good tool for whittling away at some of these questions and then storing the results.

just looking into this, not totally sure what to think reg it so far. I used a trial with race form interactive a few years ago which i liked  but wasn't totally sure on.