Digiturf - Fantasy Horse Racing For The Stats Junkie

Simulcasting has provided an outlet for handicappers to extrapolate and pontificate on any number of races on a given day at tracks across the world. While my wagering interest focuses mainly on Woodbine, I have been known to punt the odd dollar towards Belmont, Saratoga, Del Mar and on one particularly late night I tried my luck in Hong Kong. (Not recommended as late night wagering is often the result of poor afternoon handicapping!)

Digiturf is taking things one step further, providing horse racing fans a chance to own, train and enter their very own virtual horses in competition against other virtual horses from around the world for purses paying out in real money! What, you may ask, is a virtual horse? Good question - by signing up as a member to Digiturf, you are agreeing to enter the world of digital horse racing. Your free sign up, includes the ownership of a digital two year-old to train and prepare for racing action.

The free horse provided with sign up is meant to be used as a way to get to know the Digiturf methods, and most users on the Digiturf message boards recommend purchasing a new horse from the Sales Ring for US$15. Another alternative would be to claim a horse from one of the many claiming races in an attempt to find a horse with potential value a la Scott Fairlie. In September of 2004, a virtual horse named Deadly Quiet was purchased for a very real US$7,650 in auction. Since the sale, Deadly Quiet has gone on to win over US$24,000 in prize money and has even changed hands again. Considering the original owner purchased Deadly Quiet for a paltry US$15, his profit of US$7,635 cannot be overlooked.

Online fantasy sports have been providing entertainment for sports and stats geeks for 20 years or more. My first foray into this phenomenon was through a baseball simulator named Bill James Classic Baseball. The simulator allowed the end user to draft a team of historical players from the early 1900s through the 1980s and the program would simulate games against your online opponents based on actual stats. Digiturf works on a similar premise, pitting your horse in action against the horses of other owners with the results determined on the genetic ability of your horse, training methods, distance, track, surface, supplements, weight and jockey. Just as in a real horse race, in the virtual world, a lower lever “D” claiming horse is not going to beat a Grade 1 stakes field.

Needless to say, my interest was piqued and I immediately signed up for Digiturf as owner of Triple Dead Heat stables and went about creating my silks. I chose a classic white with green sleeves and trim, with three green diamonds across the chest.

Next up was to create my very first virtual horse, a beautiful grey gelding I named TDH Star and quickly began the process of training the youngster from 50% fitness up to 93% fitness over a variety of surfaces and distances. TDH Star showed great promise on wet tracks, posting good numbers over both the mud as well as on a yielding turf surface. The speed of the site allowed me to train my new horse into racing condition in a matter of minutes and I was excited to find a race at an astounding 3200M (that’s two miles) on a muddy Dubai race course against a five horse field of similar new horses. These races run hourly throughout the day, such is the level of interest.

Although only a training race with no real money on the line, I waited with much anticipation for the race to begin. As I launched the race viewer, I was immediately impressed with both the visual and sound quality of the website. The race was preceded by a post parade and a bugle call as the camera panned around the scenery of the Dubai racetrack. TDH Star had post position three and the big gray stood out from his chestnut competition. Suddenly, the camera focused on the starting gate and the five horse field charged into action. The two horse charged out to a commanding lead, while TDH Star rated in fourth position.



Seeking a better view, I changed options and used the Aerial Cam to get a better view of my equine athlete who was smartly saving ground along the rail in this two mile marathon.



The leader was opening up a decidedly disturbing lead and I worried my first race was going to end with a miserable defeat. However as the horses turn for home and approached the finish line, the two horse was starting to falter and the pack was catching up.



My big gray was trapped between horses, but the jockey found a gap and sprinted to the lead! Surely, I was home free and on my way to my first virtual win!



But just as soon as TDH Star took the lead after two grueling miles, his move off the rail opened up a path for the four horse who surged in front to win an agonizing photo finish by a neck.



Despite the result, I could not help but be impressed with how realistically the race played out and I watched the replay several times. While TDH Star may not become the Grade 1 winner I hope to someday train, his first race has inspired me to continue with Digiturf and build a stable of thoroughbreds I can enjoy come December when Woodbine closes for the season.