iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Must admit, I was expecting Reform to slide more than this.

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

I take RaceIQ sectionals as accurate (these days) unless they clearly are not. 2fFS of Mountain Road is 108.6%. Attached shows relative upgrades on geegeez (which uses my methodology).

100

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

Meeting as a whole. Meanwhile, 70% of "shorties" (horses whose win % was >3.75 times Random) were British-trained. The problem is not with the handicapping of Irish horses overall - as anyone who keeps figures would know - but with letting in a small number of horses (most of them GBR) lightly.

100

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 12/03/2026

Handicap performances after Day Three at Cheltenham 2026. GBR overperformance if judged by wins alone, but not on Place Impact Values or %RB. The 3 winning favourites in such races have all been GBR-trained.

220

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 11/03/2026

Time-based assessment of going on Day One of Cheltenham Festival. Timeform has also gone "Good to Soft", as the official. Likely to be a bit quicker today after just 1.5mm of rain (and no reported watering) overnight.

050

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

Indeed. Not able to dig into this in great detail right now but here is a bit more context.

010

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

Worrying developments for those of us trying to avoid a repeat of 2024’s St David’s Day fiasco (spent it in a pub in nearby Burry Port with ATR on the telly instead).

010

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Remarkable betting on Most Seats at next UK General Election as Green Party comes with a strong run.

130

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

Been out of the loop. What has happened in the last 48 hours to cause Labour to take over as favourites from previous clear leaders RFUK?

221

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Email from the Asian Racing Conference about AI and Big Data. Some valid points - racing may be "data-rich and somewhat insight-poor" - but also that old canard about Secretariat. You get the impression those in charge and the well-intentioned speakers have tended to look in the wrong places.

141

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Those colour-coded FS%s are not too bad at all.

120

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

One country’s reputation has nosedived recently. Credit: Simon shows you maps (Facebook)

050

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Quality from @champagne-harry.bsky.social who really needs to start posting such gems on here too/first/instead 😀

180

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

That is a mighty good piece of writing in @theguardian.com review of that film.

081

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

Sectionals summarised for last 10 winners of Clarence House Chase. Pace was remarkably strong this year, especially in the first half of the race.

360

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 11/01/2026

Derby finishes got faster of late, and by implication the pace was not so strong (relative to overall time) in the opening mile, but a little rather than a lot, and the 1970s produced faster finishes again. (from my blog "Have Horses Got Faster?", July 2022)

120

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Despite the figures, I am still reading that this season’s Savills Chase was “slowly-run” or “a dawdle”. Visuals which ignore evidence frequently come to wrong conclusions, and it happens on a daily basis.

061

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 21/07/2025

Well, compared to the last 2 years (previous to that buried on some old computer). True Love moved up plenty after the weekend also.

100

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 07/07/2025

The words of Ken Livingstone, then Mayor of London, 20 years ago.

061

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 22/06/2025

Royal Ascot 2025 same. Gives an indication of which finishes rewarded speed and which rewarded stamina.

242

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

🤔 Latest WBRRs Including 3yos: 1, Sovereignty 125 2, Field of Gold 123 3, Ruling Court 121 4, Croix du Nord 120 Journalism 120 Lambourn 120

122

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 01/06/2025

A thrilling finish to yesterday's John Of Gaunt Stakes at Haydock between Ten Bob Tony trained by Ed Walker (far right) and Kinross trained by Ralph Beckett (not quite so far right).

240

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 29/05/2025

Company Directors and cul-de-sac dwellers really need to speak out and disown this individual and his behaviour. Why are they so silent on this matter?

491

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 22/05/2025

Good morning, Justin. RacingTV have not done a good job of publicising this, but striding data exists on their site, hidden behind the "Show All"/"Hide All" button. Treanmor's 2.41 max/2.25 min is more typical of a 7f than a 6f performer, but he certainly showed lots of pace. I was impressed also.

110

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

I have zero doubt who the true patriots are in this.

030

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 08/05/2025

Ka Ying Rising now up to joint-second-best horse in the world. One. Final. Push.

010

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Sectional times compared to par for the conditions and sectional upgrades (Field of Gold +11 lb max, Ruling Court +8 lb max) as they will appear shortly on Proform.

110

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 03/05/2025

Sectionals from a fast-finishing 2000 Guineas

371

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 01/05/2025

Galopin des Champs recorded the fastest time in the Punchestown Gold Cup since 2008. Different official distances but probably the same and just measured wrong in the past. It is not G/S going.

111

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

Marine Nationale's Punchestown Champion Chase win yesterday was the fastest by a long way this century (one imagines that the race has always been around 100 yards over 2 miles). Fairly quick conditions.

261

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

Expert Analysis on the ATR site has been extended to cover some of the more interesting races outside G1s/G2s in Ireland, France and Britain (which is what was covered previously), such as Wednesday's Craven Stakes (and e.g. Kentucky Derby when it comes round). Go to "Results" on ATR and scroll down

050

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 18/04/2025

It sometimes really does seem as if Nick Luck is everywhere, all the time.

141

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Lowest over-round per-runner since 2005 (though, as most know, that measure is strongly correlated with field size, which has reduced somewhat in the last 2 years). Starting Price Regulatory Commission wrote a report after 2015 declaring what a good job they were doing.....

021

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 05/04/2025

Figures for Fence Difficulty in the Grand National, pre- and post-modifications, have come out wrong in the graphics on my blog. Below are what they should be.

121

Simon Rowlands @simonrowlands.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Cheltenham 2025 winners ranked by absolute final 4f times (and accompanied by Finishing Speed %s). For info.

483