NYRA.com plans to roll out a preview of upgraded video options on its web site this weekend, Saturday Oct. 18 and Sunday, Oct. 19. After taking in a "preview of the preview" Thursday, Oct. 16, I’d recommend checking out the new NYRA.com video options.
First of all, if you’re not currently getting a true HD feed of the races from NYRA, currently at Belmont Park, you’ll be impressed at the look of each race. Horses are well defined—you can see what they look like—and saddle cloth numbers are sharp. But beyond that, the video upgrade will give viewers more command than they’ve ever had, essentially making them the director of the day's racing production.
The preview of the video upgrade will be available this week at NYRA.com. NYRA wants to make sure everything’s ready to go, so I won’t be providing a link at this time, but the preview link should be up and running Saturday morning at NYRA.com. The goal is to have the upgraded video fully available in November, when NYRA plans to unveil a few more bells and whistles to its revamped site.
Luis Grandison - Photo by Adam Coglianese
This weekend, viewers will be able to watch races on NYRA.com from the standard camera angle or from the head-on view, both in HD. They also will be able to select between the English race call from John Imbriale or the Spanish race call from Luis Grandison.
There will be steady cameras that offer views of the stretch and a close-up of the finish. Adventuresome viewers may shift to these angles during a race but they figure to be more useful in the mornings for people wishing to watch workouts. Unfortunately, horses won’t be identified in the mornings, but these cameras should prove useful for owners. For instance, a trainer could give an owner a call when a horse is on the track, and they could watch the morning exercise or breeze.
The stretch and finish-line views also could prove useful for watching post parades from a different angle. These cameras stay in place and run constantly. Viewers will be able to play with them and see what times they enjoy watching from these angles.
Also, with these cameras in place, trainers could inform fans via Twitter when top horses are on the track for workouts, perhaps including a short description of the exercise rider's attire. Come to think of it, you can count on BloodHorse reporters supplying such information via Twitter when
they’re at a NYRA track in the morning.
The video upgrade also will allow viewers access to a paddock camera to focus on horses preparing to race.
The site also features a running Twitter feed from all of the NYRA personalities for comments throughout the day. For more on the preview, click here.
NYRA talked about its video plans at this year's simulcast conference.
For those of you who check out the upgraded video this weekend, be sure to share you're thoughts in the comment section below.
