Q. What are the best ratings to use?

A. The CXP rating on all the reports is the best overall rating day-in day-out, the next best rating is the LC# rating and then the S rating. In addition to these 3 ratings the !ER! number is very good at picking winners in cheap claiming races AND all stakes races ( 1999 Arkansas Derby winner Valhol $62.80 is a good example ). The !ER! does OK also with Turf races. With Version 9.5 the special character ( $, !, #, ~ and especially the % ) point to many longshots. The * as the first character is especially good at Turf races and the @ as the first character is always a wire to wire threat.

Q. The exacta3, winonly and offtrack reports have different values for CXP, is this an error?

A. No, the winonly and offtrack reports are created by reading the cexacta3 report and modifing the CXP value for that report. ( You can think of it as 3 different ratings , the winonly CXP , cexacta3 CXP and offtrack CXP )

Q. What do you mean by SPLITting the horse?

A. I split or group the horse together ( + front runners and then - closers and ? in maidens only, first time starters are grouped together) in order to compare apples to apples and also to easily get a feel for the probable running of the race. ( For example: only 1 front runner or only 1 closer may have an additional advantage)

Q. Why are some of the fields in the maiden and turf reports blank?

A. The Standard Edition of the program uses the BRIS DRF single format file which does not have values for BRIS exclusive ratings such as Sire Production Index SPI. Those fields are only available with the more espensive BRIS file.

Q. Where do I look to find out what the columns mean on every report?

A. Look in the Glossary file.

Q. I downloaded the Demo program and when I tried to run it I got the message that the program had "EXPIRED", what do I do?

A. After downloading the Demo you must request the 14-day demo file via e-mail webmaster@contenderswins.com and replace the old file with the file that will be sent to you as an attached file.

Q. What is the cost to upgrad from a previous version of Contenders?

A. Upgrades are $39 via the internet.

Q. Why are horses eliminated on the WINONLY report?

A. In order to show a better profit the program that creates the winonly report tries to eliminate short-price horses that have historically shown do not win thier rfair share of races. ( In fact, some days in would pay to also eliminate the lowest Morning Line Odds horse from the WINONLY report and bet the highest CXP rated horse of those remaining. )

Q. Is online version different than a version that would be mailed to me?

A. No

Q. How do I use the Manual portion of the program?

A. ( be sure to use USEDRF )

Q. Are the 4FTT and 4FTK times adjusted for track to track variances?

A. No, although some are adjusted slightly using my own criteria.

Q. What does the "F" mean in the SP field?

A. This is flag for a probable Front runner.

Q. After scratching a horse I noticed that the CXP values had changed for some horses, is this correct?

A. Yes, the program handicaps each race by comparing each horse to the other horses in the race and the probable likely running of the race. So, it is possible that a horse would be eliminated from the WINONLY report the first run and after scratching another horse or horses not only appear on the WInONLY report but be the TOP CXP rated horse.

Q. I noticed that the special characters are not on all the reports is the a problem?

A. No, the special characters ( Handi-bots ) mainly appear on the WINONLY report.

Q. Are the SP1 and SP2 numbers the BRIS speed ratings?

A. No, although in many causes they will be the same as the BRIS speed ratings, you will see that they are slighly different.