Return to the Main FAQ's PageFAQ # 1
ALL-WaysTM Support
Start using custom Handicapping Profiles as soon as possible!
When you first use ALL-Ways to handicap races at a specific track, you must use the default Handicapping Profiles that are supplied with ALL-Ways. These default Handicapping Profiles are averaged for all tracks in the country. Therefore, the default profiles work better at some tracks then they do at others.
Now, ALL-Ways automatically builds a Race Database for every track you handicap. Each time you process a race card data file, ALL-Ways adds the races to the Race Database for the track. When you process the race results file, ALL-Ways automatically adds the race results to the Race Database for the track. This Race Database is then available to the ALL-Ways Analysis Module.
The Analysis Module can be used several different ways to analyze the Race Database for a track. You can click the Multiple Regression Analysis Default function (MRA DEF) and ALL-Ways will automatically replace the default Handicapping Profiles originally supplied with ALL-Ways (Remember, they are averaged for all tracks.) with MRA profiles that are tuned to the specific types of races run at the specific track. You can also use the Impact Value Analysis to automatically calculate the power of each of the 71 key handicapping factors in terms of predicting the winning horse for the specific types of races run at the specific track. Then you can create your own custom Handicapping Profiles based on these Impact Values. In the Professional Edition, you can set the race screens to analyze very specific kinds of races and then click the Multiple Regression Analysis Custom function (MRA CUSTOM) to automatically create Handicapping Profiles for the specific track that are highly targeted at specific types of races.
Isolating the analysis to a specific track is a major, incredibly powerful feature of ALL-Ways. Most other handicapping software does not differentiate between tracks. Well, we know that what works at one track does not necessarily work at another track. Our studies show that Handicapping Profiles created for one track do not travel well to another track but do travel extremely well from year-to-year at the same track. What we are saying is that for any handicapping methodology to be effective, it absolutely must be tailored to each specific track. In this age of simulcasting, it is imperative for handicapping software to be track specific. ALL-Ways is such software.
Just as different tracks must be handicapped differently, so must different races be handicapped differently. To state the obvious, sprints are fundamentally different than routes, turf races are fundamentally different than dirt races, and maiden races are fundamentally different than non-maiden races (See our April, 1997 newsletter.). Now lets state some race types that may not be so obvious. Allowance races are different than claiming races. Seven-furlong sprints are different than 6-furlong sprints. Maiden races for two-year-olds are different than maiden races for three-year-olds. Races with multiple front-running style horses are different than races with only one front runner. Races for higher-class horses are different than races for lower level horses. We could keep going on and on, but we think the point is made. To be effective, not only must handicapping software be able to be tuned to a specific track, it must also be able to be tuned to specific race types run at the specific track. ALL-Ways is such software.
Whether you use the MRA Default profiles or the MRA Custom profiles or you create your own custom profiles, you will get vastly improved performance form ALL-Ways then is possible by using the original default profiles. All of these profiles are customized to the track. As soon as you have 60 to 80 races or so in the Race Database for a track, you should start using the Analysis Module capabilities to generate Handicapping Profiles for the specific track.