Figures (Speed, Sheets) - Europe?

[kurukshetra]

Gentlemen!

a persistent annoyance of mine has been the absence of competent figures (i.e., speed figures, but more specifically sheet type figures) for non-American races (with some exceptions, i.e., Hong Kong, although there is no sheet style analysis of HK meets that I am aware of).

The generic  punter on british races, for example, seems entirely hostile to this methodology, instead preferring archaic approaches such as simplistic one-to-one comparisons of form lines.

Certainly, there are figure producers that I am aware of - for example, attheraces.com does present speed figures for british races, however, these figures are almost entirely useless in terms of results, suggesting the incompetence or basic charlatinism of the one making these figures.

Thus, the query: to the extent that various figures, such as speed and sheet , provide the ever-allusive \"edge\", and, furthermore, in so far as the now ubiquituous presence of such figures, more specifically speed figures, have been interpreted as blunting this \"edge\" into irrelavancy within the North American context, why have handicappers not turned their attention to foreign meetings where this methodology would still be advantageous?

To present a concrete example: I would request sheet style analysis for next week\'s Royal Ascot meeting, more acutely, Outstrip (godolphin - winner of breeders cup juvenile turf 2013) in the St. James\'s Palace stakes, currently at 26-1 with the bookmakers, who seems incredibly spaced for a move forward second race after layoff.

Best regards,
k.

[TGJB]

We have figures for the major European meets, but we only assemble them in useful form when the horses are entered here. It\'s too much work to do it manually, which is what we have to do lacking an entry file from Equibase or somenone else. We actually did try to sell it for a while, but you\'re right, it\'s tough to develop a market.

We\'re looking at Hong Kong, and elsewhere.

[sekrah]

I would buy Royal Ascot TG Sheets.  Not sure if they even have the proper ground loss numbers for all these horses though.

[kurukshetra]

one of the more obvious advantages of shifting focus to non-American markets is that horizontal betters are not bound to predetermined pick 3, 4 or 5 sequences. Instead the punter can construct doubles, trebles, accumulators, etc. For this reason those type of horizontal bets always seemed to me to be sucker bets, although I understand that perhaps Americans cannot easily access a bookmaker.

regards,
K.