Comparing Post Positions Using the Chi Square Distribution

Abstract

In horse racing, at the start of a race, horses line-up in starting gates. The rack track assigns horses and their jockeys their starting gates in advance of a race. We examine the published data from a racetrack to determine if a starting gate is preferred over another. We compare the number of wins across the post positions for sprint races and long distance races using two chi-square distributions. Given the post positions and the number of wins for a given race track, it can be determined that the inner-most and outer-most track positions tend to be preferred over the center track positions.