Via JN Campbell
From his desk in the racing office, Stuart Slagle sees coordinating bets as a business that is both sales and diplomacy, but for him it’s also part science.
A former scholar who received a BA in Zoology from the University of Texas at Austin and studied biophysics at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana before working with supercomputers as a systems engineer. , his approach to completing the staking race has always been interspersed with scientific method and predictive analytics.
“There is nothing like the scientific pursuit of a favorable outcome,” he said.
Incorporating those experiences into Purebred racing isn’t really a big change. After all, it is a sport built on breeding metrics and structures handed down through generations.
Originally from Ohio, Slagle grew up among the reeds in Lubbock, Texas. A lover of baseball and football in the Panhandle, he has always been fascinated by how statistics aid the flow of information. He switched to zoology because it was time to announce his major in his junior year of Longhorn. The taxonomy, behavior, and distribution of animals taught him that observation can be a keen skill to develop.
Computer modeling and predictive analytics combined with handicap races, which he has given up in search of work in various positions on the track over the past 20 years, from working as a umpire at Sunland Park in New Mexico to the Race Clerk at Prairie Meadows in Iowa.
“As an honest researcher, I am fascinated by the biology of horses and how aerobic exercise involves analyzing their speed and standard deviation metrics.
While he’s researched the science behind how and why some equestrians are suited to specific races, pooling is a relatively new experience for Slagle. , after being hired by Scott Jones to take the helm at the Fair Grounds in New Orleans last fall.
“There are a lot of experienced coordinators out there that I have great respect for in this business,” he said. “Scott is one of them, and I’m lucky to follow in his footsteps.”
Moving forward, Slagle’s job is a complicated one when it comes to choosing. Before the end of the meeting on March 26, he will have to complete 65 departure gates worth a total of $8.5 million. Under Jones’ guidance, his managed roster includes Silverbulletday S. and GIII Louisiana S. this weekend, and of course, GI Kentucky Derby prep races like GIII Lecomte S., GII Risen S. and finally the GII Louisiana Derby.
Part of Saturday’s card, The Alys Look (Link) won the Silverbulletday S., at Fair Grounds | Photography Hodges / Lou Hodges, Jr.
Series for both the Derby and GI Kentucky Oaks have provided several key stops along those trails and much of it continues to be criticized on social media regarding the Fair Grounds not having a Class race. I. Slagle explains that that needs to be moderated, especially when you consider all of the factors that the Association of Purebred Breeders and Owners use to determine what constitutes a race. classified.
“You have to understand that it is out of your control. [grading process] because there’s a race quality score based on speed metrics, there’s a workbook and the top four finishers show up after the race, just to name a few,” he said.
In this structure, a stake coordinator constantly considers the many options ahead when filling in the entry box. Sure, they’re trying to get the best horses they can and the biggest fields, but they’re also thinking wirelineally about a variety of data.
“We always wanted horses with experience to stake,” explains Slagle. “But that’s not always easy to achieve, so it’s also important to think about the things that are raising the bar at the right time.”
What a Thoroughbred does with their career post-race at the Fair Grounds could prove just as important to future race classification as it has done in the past. Running numbers and reviewing potential candidates includes a sea of data. Slagle started taking control by randomly texting and calling about 70-80 coaches who might have potential athletes in their midst. He will get a fast response, a slow response will appear and some will not respond at all.
The science behind the selection process quickly moves to the sales stage, and then turns into a flurry of diplomatic negotiations as warehouses are wary of figuring out where they’ll run next. Most of the time, they will wait until the last possible moment to make a statement, so Slagle must weigh the options before the race is over. Poker face is standard.
Just like any business, racetracks want their stakes competition to have a race worth betting on. In other words, being heavily liked against a group of superior runners isn’t helping, and in an age where horses run less often, you’re asking for risky relationships to come to your race. yourself, instead of going to another racetrack.
“This is a huge financial commitment that the owners are making by entering the equity race and we are asking them to invest in the product that we are bringing to market,” he said. “At the same time, we are also thinking about our patrons, the betting public and our own profits, so there is no recipe for success because every time we do this it is completely different.”
Balancing all this in his equity lab, Slagle is looking for equestrian athletes with the potential for success, and he determines that by measuring their behavioral patterns. A look at their early races and the speed metrics they post can be combined with the distance they’ve covered in an effort to help identify potential stars in production. The results of these “tests” won’t always come quickly, though, as sometimes a Thoroughbred race maturity develops well after they compete in the bet race. Fair Grounds. That is why decisions made now by the stake coordinator can affect an unspecified future.
He said: “When we put together a squad, I am still constantly thinking with the scientific method and hypotheses. “For example, we know which barns are running out of rest, and all this data will form a picture of who we should be attracting.”
With a wealth of experience and still a lot to learn, Slagle is using all the different principles he’s encountered over the years at his new job in New Orleans. Like a zoologist in the field, he wanted to find the right Purebred for his ecosystem. As he builds his hypothesis on each potential entry, the next bets race slowly, then rapidly form. Then it is on to the next one.
Back at Stuart Slagle’s desk at Fair Grounds, there’s a clear science behind his method. Basic knowledge of zoology has no bearing on this type selection process.
