Set Track Profile/Folders
Before discussing Track Profiles and Folders, a couple definitions are necessary.
WEIGHTING FACTORS - Definition - Multipliers, typically from 1 to 100 which are used to add more or less importance to a particular Handicapping FACTOR known as a Column. Some examples of Handicapping FACTORS for the STANDARD HANDICAPPING METHOD are "SPEED", "EARLY", or "MAN" for example.
TRACK PROFILES - Definition - A set of files that QuickDog AUTOMATICALLY creates which contain all of your settings for a particular handicapping method including your WEIGHTING FACTORS and Method Filters. Every setting you make when handicapping a race is "remembered" automatically by QuickDog except for "global settings". A global setting is something like "Scoring Method" which is used for all track profiles. Items such as Shippers, or Schooling, or Trouble settings are automatically remembered in track profiles as you change them. You can have a single track profile for each track or you can have unique track profiles for each performance and every distance and grade combination for that performance at every track. For example, if Track "A" has an evening and matinee performance, and runs 2 different distances, with 5 grades for each distance, then you could have 2 x 2 x 5 or 20 different track profiles for this particular track. If you don't feel that performance is important, but you feel distance and grade are important differences at the track you play, then you would have 10 track profiles for that track. If you feel that neither performance nor distance plays a role in your handicapping but each grade should be handicapped differently, then you would have 5 track profiles to manage for this track. As you handicap race by race and make different changes you will notice that all your changes are remembered automatically.
How does the user set how TRACK PROFILES are managed? This selection is done on the Set_Track_Profiles/Folders Menu, which is part of the FILE Menu Bar item.
Figure 1 - Selecting TRACK PROFILES Setup
Note in Figure 1 on the "Windows Title Bar" (top of window which reads "QuickDog '10 0501...." there is text which reads "GG". This is the name of the currently selected Track Profile. As indicated by those two letters "GG", it is for Gulf Greyhound Track. After clicking the Menu Item in Figure 1, Figure 2 appears. This popup allows you to select how many track profiles you would like to have for the track currently being handicapped.
Figure 2 - Track Profile - Setup Display
Go ahead and select "USE DISTANCE" by clicking on it. This will change the setting from NO to YES. Now click the "USE GRADE" button until it reads YES.
Then click the Right Mouse button to "ACCEPT" and return to the Handicapping Style display. Remember how the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON works - when you don't see another way to ACCEPT (ENTER) data or to Exit a Feature, remember that pressing the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON will ACCEPT and return to the previous display.
Figure 3 - TRACK PROFILE Stored based on Track/Distance/Grade
Notice the Window Title Bar now (top line of Figure 3). The former GG of Figure 2 has been replaced by GG3125M - Gulf Greyhound (GG) track, Distance 5/16 (.3125) and Grade M. The name beginning with GG (track profile filename) is the currently selected TRACK PROFILE (name).
Now try clicking on the "Select Race" Right Arrow button at the top left of the QuickDog Handicapping Window. The next race is displayed. If the distance is different than that of Race 1, then you will notice that the track profile filename on the Title Bar has also changed.
Once QuickDog creates a TRACK PROFILE (based on your Track Profile Settings for Track/Performance/Distance/Grade), you can set values and they will be stored independently of any other TRACK PROFILE.
A technique for creating subfolders within your \jaidogs folder is explained in the offline QuickDog HELP file on TRACK PROFILES. This feature will give you the capability to configure your QuickDog to allow you to manage several sets of TRACK PROFILES based on wager testing and other advanced QuickDog features. Note the difference between track "profiles" and track profile "folders". A profile is for a specific type of race, while a folder contains many track profiles.
More on Weighting Factors
This tutorial uses the "Standard Method" to talk through the concepts of Weighting the Handicapping Factors. In order to follow along the user is invited to use the Menu Bar to Select the "Standard Method" from the "Handicapping_Tools" Menu Bar item.
Note the COLUMN Headings for each of the Handicapping FACTORS which make up the QuickDog "Standard Method" shown below. These are "SPEED", "EARLY", "MAN", "LATE", "MONEY", "CLASS", and "ODDS". The numbers above these headings represent the WEIGHTING FACTORS - all equal to 1.0.
Figure 4 - Standard Handicapping Method
Weighting factors are multiplied by values which represent the SCORES for each dog in each column. Though you see values in the columns below, the actual score for each dog in that column is not visible. This invisible score is called a COLUMN RANKING score. Ranking scores are scores from 0 to 100, the higher the score the better the dog is considered.
Note: For more information about how a column ranking score is calculated, see the HELP Menu Bar item in QuickDog and Select STANDARD method.
In the picture below, each dog's "POWER" column RANKING score is multiplied by 1, and the "EARLY" Column Ranking is multiplied by 1, etc., and all of these products are added together to form a total score. This total is then divided by the total Sum of the Weighting factors to yield the AVG_RANK value. This score which would then be between 0 and 100, is divided by 10 to form an AVERAGE RANK value shown in the "AVG_RANK" column.
Figure 5 - Standard Method with Handicapping FACTORS (See Cursor)
Now, suppose we believe that a dog's average SPEED score is 4 times more important than any other handicapping factor in this method, and that all other factors are equally important. How do we know this? We don't but we just feel it is, based on our experience at the track.
Later, QuickDog can test our assumption using BACKTEST, but that's another story. Right now, for our example, we'd like to change the 1.0 in the SPEED button to 4.0.
When we do, QuickDog will add the SPEED COLUMN RANKING SCORE to the TOTAL score 4 times and add each remaining score only based on what their WEIGHTING FACTORS are. Finally this sum will be divided by 10 (4 SPEED score + 1 EARLY score + 1 MAN score + 1 LATE score + 1 MONEY score + 1 CLASS score + 1 ODDS score). To make this change, we simply click on the large button which includes all the Columns - see Figure 5 - to change its WEIGHTING FACTOR from 1.0 to 4.0.
Figure 6 - TUNE Entry Pop-Up
This "Display/Set All Weighting Factors" pop up has many features, but, for now, we wish simply to enter a 4 for SPEED. To do so first we select the "ENTER BY" button, and click on this button until it says "VALUE". Next we click on the SPEED Button. A calculator style input popup will appear and we simply click on the "keypad" the number 4. We then ENTER our request by clicking the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON. This will enter a 4 in place of the 1 value. If you wish to change the other numbers, simply click each one in turn and key in a value for each. Notice to ENTER a number you simply click the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON.
When finished with this display, we again click the RIGHT MOUSE BUTTON to return to the handicapping method. Note our results have changed based on our new WEIGHTING FACTOR. Compare Figure 5 to Figure 7.
Figure 7 - After Manually WEIGHTING the SPEED (4x)
What you've learned is that, based on your experience, you can set these weightings. These original settings are not intended to be profitable, although they may be. If you think about it, you will quickly realize that QuickDog can be used with so many different settings that the chances of two people having exactly the same settings is astronomically high! And that's why it becomes your personal handicapping method.
OK, you may feel that some of the Handicapping FACTORS are useless in this method. For those, you would enter a "DNU" (Do Not Use) into the "Display/Set Weighting Factors" Popup. To do this, you click on the ENTER BY button of that popup - see Figure 6 - until it says TOGGLE, then click on the EARLY (for example) setting until it says "DNU". Another way to eliminate this column is to enter a -1 (negative 1) value. Let's try that with the MAN factor. Using the procedure you just used to change the SPEED setting, go change the MAN factor to either DNU or to a value of -1 (negative 1).
Figure 8 - Ignore MAN as a Handicapping FACTOR
Note that when we enter a -1 or DNU, the WEIGHTING FACTOR is not displayed. This indicates that this column no longer affects the AVERAGE RANK.
Remember, based on your Track Profile Settings, all your changes are automatically saved for you as you make changes.