Free resources for system research

[bliss]

Horse-racing data can be expensive, but there are a couple of sites that I know of where you can get stats and try out system ideas without paying a penny. Both of them are for UK racing only.

(1) Adrian Massey has an online database which can generate a huge number of stats, and is especially useful for favourites analysis. nolinks://nolinks.adrianmassey.com/fav/index.php  Clicking on "custom report" at the foot of the page will take you to a page where you can select from a large number of filters, then generate a report which will show which are profitable and which are not.

(2) nolinks://81.178.30.83/download.htm  Here you can download a database of racing data going back to 1994 (185Mb). Once downloaded and installed, click on the "export results" button and read the help file.  It's not so user friendly as the Massey site because in order to extract the data you need to know how to query databases using the SQL language. However SQL is easy to learn and there are lots of free tutorials on the net.

Just some things to be aware of when trying to find profitable systems: It's tempting to keep tweaking a system by adding filters to maximise the return, but generally speaking, simple systems are more robust. You should aim to use fewer filters with lower profitability and a larger sample, rather than more filters with higher profitability and a smaller sample (overfitting). Also, make sure your system makes a consistent profit over a reasonable period of time, ideally you should check that it's profitable every year and that the profits aren't just the result of a statistical blip. Also, if you can find some logical reasons why the system should work, given the filters you are using, then so much the better. This is really just common sense. If you happen to notice that horses ridden by jockeys wearing yellow shirts did particularly well over a period of time, this is unlikely to be a good basis for a sound system!
For more info: nolinks://nolinks.flatstats.co.uk/systems_guide.html

[Natural9]

Bliss is  there any similar sites for Australian racing

[bliss]

Sorry N9, I don't know of any. I know nothing about Australian racing, might be worth asking Lohnro...

[Lohnro]

I don't know of any free data of that quality for Australian racing. These blokes nolinks://nolinks.puntingace.com have the best ratings that I know of, but of course you have to pay for them. 

One thing you forgot to mention Bliss. ......... GET THE BEST PRICE POSSIBLE!! 

[Lohnro]

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