"The results have varied from the expected (graded stakes winners are the best prospects for producing high-quality runners) to the surprising (fast maiden winners produce a surprising percentage of high-quality runners). We also discuss listed stakes winners as producers (they appear to be over-valued and overbred by breeders), and non-winning mares (it’s hard to justify having them in a high-quality broodmare band), and six other categories of racing class as well."

"It seems very short-sighted. It's a classic example of one part of racing trying to get a slightly bigger slice of the cake, regardless of how big the cake actually is, or what it might mean in a wider sense."

"So the challenge for 2011 isn’t just making use of all the data that’s available, it’s making use of it responsibly, linking data together to come up with a true picture."

"If we don't know the fatality rates at each racetrack, how can there be any action taken on the results of the study or, more importantly, how can horsemen decide where to perhaps avoid racing in the future?"

Synthetic surfaces boast fewer catastrophic breakdowns than dirt, Jockey Club stats say.

"... thanks to the convergence of several factors, the technological tools to perform that analysis and take it in myriad new directions are becoming increasingly powerful. And fueled in part by newer innovations such as real-time motion tracking, advanced statistical algorithms, and high-definition and highly searchable online video, the number of firms entering or expanding their business presence in player analysis is quickly accelerating.... Arguably the most dramatic advance within player analysis has not been within the number crunching itself, but the ability to take the research anywhere and access it through a simple touchscreen. Apple’s iPad tablet device, which sold more than 3 million units in just 90 days following its April debut, is now a must-have business tool for dozens of GMs across the major sports leagues."

Fascinating results from the first year of the TJC equine injury database. "The analysis also showed female horses had a lower fatality rate than intact male horses; that females weren’t at increased risk when they compete against males; that 2-year-olds were less likely to break down than older horses; that there was no statistically significant difference in fatal injuries with various surface conditions."

More on TJC injury data. "This tells us the debate goes on."

"Dirt statistics from 2009 had an average of 0.39% CEDNFs per starter, so if the hypothetical meeting was strictly on a dirt track there would be 18 horses that didn’t finish and never raced/worked out again. A meeting conducting entirely on an all-weather/synthetic track, with a percentage of 0.19% CEDNFs, would have just nine non-finishers who never raced or worked again. An all-turf meeting would have 12 CEDNFs, based on the percentage of 0.26%. So, in 2009 at least, all-weather/synthetic tracks produced half the number of career-ending incidents than were recorded on dirt, and synthetics were even safer than turf." PDF: http://jessicachapel.com/docs/natb-062810-final.pdf (Also see: http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/57670/study-looks-at-number-of-dnfs-by-surface Note TOBA no-comment.)

"There are a million questions to choose from, but right now the most cutting-edge research is in the mysterious, ethereal, and, most maddeningly, subjective world of defense. And that quest to objectify the subjective has opened a new front in the battle between the Yankees and their eternal enemies, the Red Sox."

"One of the Derby handicapping angles I follow is how fast a horse finished the final eighth-mile and three-eighths mile in its last 1 1/8-mile Derby prep ... Anything in the 12-second range for the final eighth-mile of a 1 1/8-mile prep is regarded as impressive, as is anything under 38 seconds for the final three-eighths."

"The goal is simple: to replicate the company's smashing success in the financial world, where the $1,500-a-month Bloomberg terminals are in many ways the lifeblood of the industry, into the sports world. Bloomberg is starting with baseball. The company has just launched its fantasy product, which costs $31.95 for the year and is available on MLB.com." Watching with interest ...

More details from the December 2009 deal announcement: "For the MLBAM-Bloomberg product being sold to MLB teams, Bloomberg will take MLBAM’s real-time statistical feed from every game, as well as location-based data already being developed in partnership with Sportvision, and apply an almost limitless amount of analytical tools." Neat! Visuals: http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.php/bloomberg-sports-professional-tool/ Via: http://twitter.com/o_crunk/status/8470361155

Love what they've done with the tool.

"A new camera and software system in its final testing phases will record the exact speed and location of the ball and every player on the field, allowing the most digitized of sports to be overrun anew by hundreds of innovative statistics that will rate players more accurately, almost certainly affect their compensation and perhaps alter how the game itself is played."

Frustrated stats geek motivated to build own micro-service: "It will be a system that caters to sports fans."

Baseball, football, basketball ...

Historical criteria as applied to 2009 Kentucky Derby prospects. Includes 2003-2008 Derby fields and 1998-2008 top three finishers for background.

Kennedy's Corridor Derby stats posts archive. Very thorough (speed, number of starts, prep races, etc.).

Jon White explains his system: "When a horse gets three or more strikes, I toss them out. That’s because since I developed this system, no horse has won the Kentucky Derby with more than two strikes." Pioneerof the Nile, Desert Party look like contenders.

An attempt at putting the numbers into context.

Track anything you can count.

Results from races dating back years.

Popularity of search queries in US states.

(Just about) Spot on, beating the old media (and most of the established web) at the data game.

Straight up, old media baseball writing: "This is a site for baseball columns, not for baseball blogs."

Embeddable visualization of complex data