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Thread: [Free] Printable Racecards

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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    [Free] Printable Racecards

    I started a thread on this back in March but don't see it.

    With the RP switching to the beta format it fvcked up my study procedures something serious.

    Many people on here gave generously of their time to try to help me resolve the issues and I really am reluctant to impose on people again but needs must!

    I managed to buy myself nine months' grace by using the RP Bloodstock site, which continued until the other day to publish the cards in the old format that I could copy & paste effortlessly on to a Word 2003 document (I really don't like Word 2010 as I find it too cluttered). During the past week they've migrated that site to the beta format so I'm struggling.

    Just to recap, the printable cards at the various sites mentioned (RUK, ATR etc) can be printed off but they do use a lot of paper and ink. The GG printable cards look the least wasteful.

    The problem is, they don't allow me to edit them according to my needs.

    A couple of chaps kindly got in touch privately to help but we also hit problems. The best-fit solution at the time involved the Mail Online cards which could be migrated (if that's the right word) to Excel. There were a lot of editing issues beyond that and led to an awful lot more work ahead of just getting through the form but it was better than anything else offered. Thanks to that kind soul for his help!

    So we're back to square one.

    If there's anybody out there in a position to help...

    All offers of said help appreciated in advance.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have been searching for several years now to find a way to import race cards into Excel which I use to crunch the numbers for my ratings.

    I use HRB to do it at present, and it works very well and is worth the money as far as I am concerned, as I use it for other purposes as well.

    I have recently come across BetfairGuru from which you can download the days cards in CSV form. Save the file to your computer and then open a new blank work book in Excel and import the CSV file as a text file. It is a bit fiddly I must admit, but still faster than typing the data manually.

    You can now extract the particular races that you are interested in and analyse them on another Excel sheet in any way that you wish. I intend at some stage to write a Macro to suit my existing ratings sheet at some stage but for the moment I will continue with HRB.

    BetfairGuru can be found at: www.betfairguru.co/free_Racecards

    HRB is at: www.horseracebase.com/horse-racing-today.php?raceid=7489366&viewselection=1
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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Desert Orchid View Post

    I managed to buy myself nine months' grace by using the RP Bloodstock site, which continued until the other day to publish the cards in the old format that I could copy & paste effortlessly on to a Word 2003 document (I really don't like Word 2010 as I find it too cluttered). During the past week they've migrated that site to the beta format so I'm struggling.
    It looks like I'm back to square 1 with this difficulty.

    I handed my 12-year-old laptop in to the local computer shop to update it but the chap said my "pensioner" was uneconomical to repair.

    He let me have a 3yo rebuild for less than the repairs to the other would cost and, by and large, it's not too bad a machine.

    However, it uses Word 2010.

    I spent a couple of hours the other night trying to get W2010 to do what I'm used to doing with my old W2003 (which I find really easy to use for my purposes).

    I'm willing to persevere with W2010 if I can find ways of using it that are in the same ball park of easiness as W2003 but I think the layout needs a total de-clutter.

    The biggest problem is editing according to my needs. For some reason it doesn't seem to want to let me do that.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I've never found any version of Word very easy to use to be honest but I do like Excel, although but I'm by no means an expert!
    I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
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    Senior Member Grasshopper's Avatar
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    I was able to easily export BHB racecards into Excel for the Cheltenham handicaps*, and then just delete the field/columns I was interested in.

    Worth giving that a go, DO?



    * Fat lot of fu*cking good it did me.
    Last edited by Grasshopper; 2nd July 2021 at 8:08 PM.
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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    Thanks, guys.

    I might experiment with the BHB stuff but ultimately I'll want to copy and paste the fields into a Word document and edit from there.

    I really just need W2010 to behave like W2003.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I don't really understand what you are trying to do with Word.
    Are you using tables to calculate some figures?
    If so it is a lot easier to use Excel.



    Last edited by walsworth; 3rd July 2021 at 1:25 PM.
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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    No, W. I do all the calculations on paper using my brain and, if necessary, a calculator.

    The editing I need to do is just that - editing: table layout, cell alignment, etc.

    The programme I use to import from the RP to Excel was very kindly provided by a forum good guy. I have no idea how it works but it's brilliant for me. I then copy and paste the card tables from Excel into W2003, and from there edit it so that it all fits on to a landscape document (the only way to get all the columns on to the page at Font size 9.

    I'll try and copy a recent race on here so you can see what I mean. You might look at it and make easy sense of it! I just type in the ratings and notes and then sort the table from top rating to bottom. I see no facility in W2010 to sort tables. All the other info in the tables is in the imported Excel doc.

    I'm typing this on my new laptop so I don't know if it will copy the same. If not I'll fire up the pensioner.

    4.20 DIAMOND JUBILEE STAKES (GROUP 1) (BRITISH CHAMPIONS SERIES) (Class 1) (4yo+) Winner £396,970 14 runners 6f Soft ITV4 (STALLS Centre)
    No. Draw Form Horse Stats Days Age Weight Trainer Jockey OR TS MON Notes RPR
    10 13 1110-1 Starman D 38 4 9-3 Ed Walker Oisin Murphy 116 105 122 p 132
    2 3 2118-1 Dream Of Dreams D 33 7 9-3 Sir M Stoute Ryan Moore 120 121 121 +
    127t
    134
    7 11 191-42 Nahaarr D 38 5 9-3 William Haggas Tom Marquand 115 112 121 +p 131
    5 6 1121-4 Glen Shiel CD bf 28 7 9-3 Archie Watson Hollie Doyle 117 122 118 s 130
    1 8 1644-6 Art Power C D bf 38 4 9-3 Tim Easterby Silvestre De Sousa 114 117 128
    6 7 119-35 Happy Power D 35 5 9-3 Andrew Balding Jim Crowley 113 114 128
    11 10 324114 Summerghand v D 38 7 9-3 David O'Meara Daniel Tudhope 110 109 125
    8 5 416-53 Namos D 20 5 9-3 D Moser William Buick 109 99 122
    9 14 4577-1 Royal Commando D 84 4 9-3 Charles Hills Kieran Shoemark 109 94 125
    4 1 0/1242 Garrus D 33 5 9-3 Charles Hills James Doyle 108 105 124
    12 12 5561-5 Ventura Rebel p C D 38 4 9-3 Richard Fahey Paul Hanagan 108 104 119
    14 4 230-31 Sonaiyla tv D 17 5 9-0 P Twomey W J Lee 108 115 125
    3 2 8-2337 Emaraaty Ana D 38 5 9-3 Kevin Ryan Andrea Atzeni 107 109 123
    13 9 -62129 Final Song C D 38 4 9-0 Saeed bin Suroor Frankie Dettori 107 103 125
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    The sort facility is available in Word 2010 (Microsoft don’t usually remove features just reposition them so folk can’t find them )

    Select anywhere in the table.
    Select Table Tools Layout > Sort.
    Choose your sort criteria: Select the column you want to Sort by. To sort on a second column, select Then by and select another column. Select Ascending or Descending. ...
    Select OK.

    The table tools menu appears in a new tab above the ribbon


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    So difficult to follow simply from screen shots but I would think it would be easier to do this directly on Excel rather than get involved with Word.
    Best of luck whatever you decide to do!
    I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have managed to convert the download from Betfair Guru to suit my Excel sheet with only one problem. The course and/or distance indicators “C” and “D” are not recognised by Excel. I'm guessing that they are in some sort of graphic format. The only way I can enter them is to type in a separate column alongside and then delete the original column. No great problem for me as I rarely consider more than three races per day.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have solved the problem of getting the CD etc into my worksheet.
    When they are downloaded from the Betfair Guru site they look like this "CD | |"; I deleted the vertical lines and that was a mistake. If I leave them exactly as downloaded, they work perfectly in my Excel formulas.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have been trying to post a table from Excel to illustrate my method of working but cannot figure out how to do it.
    Last edited by walsworth; 7th August 2021 at 3:36 AM.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have realised that using the Betfairguru download with my Excel sheet has one advantage over using HRB, it contains the form line for horses that have raced in France. This can make quite a significant difference to my ratings but does not happen often, usually only in class 1 races. To be honest I am not sure if this also applies to horses that have raced in other countries.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    The Betfairguru site has changed the order that the racecard details are presented in which has caused me some confusion.
    It's mucked up my macro quite a bit but I think I can rescue it without having to start over.
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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    This has been brought to my attention via another platform.

    I haven't followed the link yet myself, just putting it out there.

    Don't know if this interests you but Simon Rowland posted this on Twitter and seems to think one of the responses is quite workable.

    "What is the best free service for printing off declared GB racecards, without too much clutter and in a timely manner? I seem to spend half my life waiting for them to appear and trying to avoid all the associated paraphernalia.Crucially, must NOT have any sort of betting forecast. Don't want to be swayed in forming my own."

    The relevant reply suggested this
    https://www.racingandsports.com/form-guide/thoroughbred/united-kingdom/brighton/2021-09-06

    By clicking on customised form guide you get this starter for ten

    https://www.racingandsports.com/form-guide/thoroughbred/united-kingdom/brighton/2021-09-06/custom-race-guide.


    As an aside/update, I'm getting the hang of working with Windows 10 and Office 2010. Only been two months...
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member Desert Orchid's Avatar
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    I've just clicked on the links.

    Might be an interesting enough read but doesn't fulfil my needs, which are to be able to save an editable Word doc card and re-save once I've added in my own ratings, annotations and synopses.
    Illegitimi non carborundum


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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    Will take a look later when I’m on the computer.

    A bit less cluttered than some but still too difficult for me to import into Excel.
    Last edited by walsworth; 7th September 2021 at 1:11 PM.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    I have just noticed another bug in these BetfairGuru downloads; occasionally the form line can fool Excel into thinking that it is a date. Not a major problem but I have to watch out for it.
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    Senior Member walsworth's Avatar
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    These race cards can be easily imported into Excel. backthathorse.com/
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