Non-runners pre-race and in-running

Question

Of the various different classifications for an 'unfinished' runner which ones actually define a non-runner in the sense that it didn't run at all?

I have been removing anything that matches c("Non-Runner", "withdrawn", "Refused to Race", "Refused") but I don't think it accurate and it's causing me errors in my historical stats.

I want to separate out the classes where the horse didn't run at all from where it ran but then didn't finish.

thanks

Answer 1

Hi -

Withdrawn and non-runner are the only legitimate non-runner types.

Refused to race is also a non-participant but in the strictest sense would have been considered a runner in the race.  Refused and all other "unfinished" types are descriptions of what actually happened in a race.

In the older data, there are sometimes entries of "Unknown" and "NULL" - these can safely be treated as "Non-runner".

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Colin​