Betwise Q&A - Recent questions and answers

how many categories are there in databse

Sat, 06 Jun 2026 10:46:19 +0000

Answered: DataBase Speedrating

Mon, 01 Jun 2026 20:02:22 +0000

Hi Andrew,

Thanks for the question. Smartform is all SQL based so you can add to the tables and use existing tables as you wish (provided personal use only). This means that you can easily program with the data and automate tasks such as creation of speed ratings but there is no "user interface" as such. You could add your own ratings manually of course and also include these as a table, or work with them programatically.

Hope that makes sense - any other questions please let us know or contact us via the form.

Foot ball betting

Sat, 30 May 2026 18:49:29 +0000

Answered: Feed not working into my api

Thu, 30 Apr 2026 21:15:16 +0000

Hi - there are no issues with any of the database feeds as far as we can see and none have been reported.

If you can let us know via the contact form what specific errors you are getting and on which database table updates we can investigate.

How do I place a bet on betwise?

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 08:05:22 +0000

Answered: New trainers section?

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 16:11:57 +0000

Hi - thanks for the question.

See the new blog post here:

https://blog.betwise.net/2026/04/13/new-daily-trainer-stats-how-todays-runner-fits-the-trainers-patterns/

That goes through the motivation and provides a worked example that should be useful for any upcoming race. There is more detail too at the page itself here, in the right hand sidebar, under the heading:

How to use Daily Trainer Stats

At the bottom of that sidebar, you'll find a key to individual fields under:

Full User Guide to Fields

Last but not least, there is a lot more detail on individual fields that are pulled directly from the Smartform table here:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_trainers_insights

We will be posting a video going through each race with the stats in the near future.

Hope that helps, any other questions let us know.

Answered: daily_betfair_mappings has empty bf_race_id for today

Tue, 31 Mar 2026 07:47:12 +0000

The daily betfair mappings are now fixed and should be fine for the foreseeable future.

However, please note that today's mappings were resolved at 8.44, so any data downloaded for today's racing - 31/03/26 - before then will not be correct. To be sure that you have the correct mappings, ensure that all data from today is clear before you run the updater. To delete any existing mappings, run the folllowing:

delete from daily_betfair_mappings where date=curdate();

Then run the updater and all should be fine.

Do you have an updated list of the SmartForm Database -Tables and Field Values?

Sun, 15 Mar 2026 20:40:09 +0000

Answered: Cannot import advance racecards SQL files into smartform database

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:58:08 +0000

Hi - first thing to check is that the load procedure was the same for these files with the same username and DB specification; are they possibly installed in a separate database or for a separate user ?

Answered: if i buy the data can i get £20 monthly subscription?

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 12:46:27 +0000

Hi Dermot,

The initial data purchase (of 20 years + data) also includes a £20 subscription for one further month of data updates. After that, you can decide how many months you take going forward, and there are discounts on different bundles, please see: https://www.betwise.co.uk/purchase_data

Regards,

Colin

Answered: Using mariaDB in place of mySQL

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 16:53:53 +0000

Hi - yes we've tested Smartform install with MariaDB before on Raspberry Pi and it works fine. See: https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/raspberry-pi-beta

You can also install MySQL on Debian if you add the official MySQL APT repo.

Today football games

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 14:05:59 +0000

Answered: Getting this error when updating smartform database with updater

Sun, 16 Nov 2025 10:49:45 +0000

Hi,

This looks like a local issue with regard to permissions on your local database, specifically the daily_jockeys_insights table, so needs local troubleshooting. To be sure, did the updates work before but now do not? You can isolate the issue to a table level by checking that updates work on an individual feed, eg. run

smartfofrm-updater daily

Is it a single table issue or global?

There are many reasons why this might have occurred, including that the system disk is full so MySQL switched to read only mode.

If it's a single table issue, you can try repair table or re-installing that particular table. If global, you can check system level issues (such as disk) or global settings in MySQL for permissions.

Answered: Football/Soccer betting availability

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 08:55:34 +0000

Hi - the site is an information rather than a betting platform. Currently focused on horseracing, though other sports will be added in future, likely to our .com domain.

Answered: Are there issues with the Smartform updater?

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 18:48:29 +0000

Hi - there are no issues with the updater. It looks like this might be a local client issue, either caused by the database not running on your local machine or running through a VPN connection. Have set up a support thread by private email.

Answered: As a new member is it possible to download a small free sample of the database

Wed, 03 Sep 2025 09:22:21 +0000

Hi - we provide the whole databse rather than free samples, however if you are familiar with using MySQL (or connecting to a MySQL database) then the database is as any other MySQL database. The initial subscription gives you all 22 years' horseracing data (form and results) for UK and Ireland plus daily updates for one month, with an automated updates program for results and upcoming racecards form and history.

To see what data is available in the database and the database schemas available, please see the following:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform_database_fields.pdf (all the original schemas)

Insights tables:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_runners_insights

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_trainers_insights

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_jockeys_insights

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_sires_insights

If you have any other questions about the database please let us know.

Answered: How do I make a master table view?

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 09:34:12 +0000

PS: Here's an example if you do want to create a master table - it doesn't include all fields, but provides a template you can use to easily add new fields:

CREATE TABLE smartform_master AS

SELECT

-- Base runner info

hrb.runner_id,

hrb.race_id,

hrb.name AS runner_name,

hrb.age AS runner_age,

hrb.trainer_id,

hrb.jockey_id,

hrb.starting_price_decimal,

hrb.finish_position,

-- Race info

hrc.meeting_date,

hrc.course AS race_course,

hrc.going AS race_going,

hrc.distance_yards,

hrc.race_type AS race_type_main,

hrc.class AS race_class,

-- Historic runner insights

hri.official_rating AS hri_official_rating,

hri.weight_pounds AS hri_weight_pounds,

hri.speed_rating_LTO AS hri_speed_rating_LTO,

hri.prev_runner_win_strike,

hri.prev_runner_place_strike,

hri.percent_beaten_LTO,

hri.won_LTO,

-- Trainer insights

dti.rc_21D_strike_rate AS trainer_21D_strike,

dti.rc_5Y_strike_rate AS trainer_5Y_strike,

dti.rt_5Y_course_strike_rate AS trainer_course_strike,

dti.rt_5Y_distance_strike_rate AS trainer_distance_strike,

-- Jockey insights

dji.rc_21D_strike_rate AS jockey_21D_strike,

dji.rc_5Y_strike_rate AS jockey_5Y_strike,

dji.rt_5Y_course_strike_rate AS jockey_course_strike,

dji.rt_5Y_distance_strike_rate AS jockey_distance_strike

FROM historic_runners_beta hrb

LEFT JOIN historic_races_beta hrc

ON hrb.race_id = hrc.race_id

LEFT JOIN historic_runners_insights hri

ON hrb.race_id = hri.race_id AND hrb.runner_id = hri.runner_id

LEFT JOIN daily_trainers_insights dti

ON hrb.race_id = dti.race_id AND hrb.runner_id = dti.runner_id

LEFT JOIN daily_jockeys_insights dji

ON hrb.race_id = dji.race_id AND hrb.runner_id = dji.runner_id;

anomalies -128 in age and rating, wrong values.

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:13:28 +0000

Hi there,

I’m in the process of setting up the Smartform database using MySQL and had a couple of questions I was hoping to get some guidance on.

I’ve noticed some odd values (like -128) appearing in columns such as age and official_rating after importing the historic SQL file. Are there any recommended MySQL settings or schema adjustments that should be applied before importing to avoid these issues?

Also, does the process for uploading the historic beta SQL data follow the same steps as the regular historic data? Or are there specific requirements or schema differences I should be aware of?

Thanks in advance for any help – just trying to make sure I get everything working smoothly!

Best,

Ryan

Answered: Repeat winners

Sun, 01 Jun 2025 09:39:28 +0000

Yes, this data is in the Smartform database table daily_races for every day (including current day, overnight and advance declarations) since 2008. For each race we show the last winner of that race where there is a repeat race, as well as other data such as trainer, jockey, starting price etc. This is then easily matched to any currently declared horse running in the same race again as well as trainers or jockeys who may be going for a repeat win.

Answered: historic_betfair_win_prices bf_race_id

Wed, 20 Nov 2024 18:51:11 +0000

It looks like the Betfair IDs were originally presented as integers (when the database was created) and then moved to prefixes of 1.* whereas we are still storing them as integers. We'll come back on this thread after verifying this and deciding the best way forward.

Answered: Timing of historical_betfair_win_prices.early_price

Mon, 14 Oct 2024 11:47:07 +0000

Hi - the prices are all from the files published publicly by Betfair, their definition for the early price is as follows: Weighted Average Price of all bets placed before 11am GMT

Answered: Was the book "R Is For Racing" ever get published?

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 19:53:38 +0000

Not yet - but we've been working on it, and release will be soon. Stay tuned!

Answered: Comparing bsp to inplay_max

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 11:53:59 +0000

I corrected the INNER JOIN, and it works now:

INNER JOIN

historic_runners_beta as runners on runners.race_id = bf.sf_race_id

And

runners.runner_id = bf.sf_runner_id

Answered: Any free trial

Mon, 30 Sep 2024 10:27:01 +0000

Hi,

When you sign up as a free member for the oddsline, we show a meeting a day of the previous days' results so that you can see what the service offers for as long as you want, here: https://www.betwise.co.uk/oddsline2. To sign up is £10 for the minimum subscription. There are a number of other free utilities on the site that you can find from the members' area, and we add to these over time.

Answered: oddsline - product benefits

Mon, 16 Sep 2024 15:35:53 +0000

Hi Piers,

Thanks for the question - it's a very good one! We are busy compiling multiple statistics to illustrate the use of the oddsline, and this answer will be updated when there are links to this content. We will write a blog post soon on general advantages, but in the meantime it's worth emphasising that one of the standout features of a machine learning-driven oddsline, on top of being able to spot value bets and being a good indication of any horse's chances, is consistency and predictability.

The Betwise Daily Oddsline, for example, uses models subject to vigorous backtesting so that we can be sure of the edge and strike rates in different probability ranges. Of course that is not to say that using the oddsline produces an automatic profit in certain odds ranges (though some race types and probability ranges do show this), but rather that confidence in strike rates (for example) at certain ranks and probability ranges means that these selections can be further optimised by using the Smartform database and additional data driven rules.

Since we don't use any market data in the oddsline modelling process, it's also a useful take on market movements versus form "picks", as well as a rank ordering tool for exotic plays such as the placepot and trifecta etc.

Hope this makes sense, any other questions please let us know - the new content with statistics to support the above should be available by the end of the month.

Regards,

Colin

Answered: Getting an error when trying to run update -

Mon, 01 Apr 2024 09:57:22 +0000

Hi - this is because the daily_betfair_mappings table was updated yesterday per this question:

https://answers.betwise.net/1527/daily_betfair_mappings

However, your local database still has the old data. with an existing entry for yesterday's races in it, so cannot be updated, hence this error:

1062 (23000): Duplicate entry '1311522-3935086' for key 'daily_betfair_mappings.PRIMARY'

And also because it looks like you are running the smartform-updater for all-feeds. Therefore it stops as soon as it encounters the error.

To fix the problem, see yeterday's question - in this case you will need to delete all data since yesterday, so follow these steps:

# log in to smartform database

> delete from daily_betfair_mappings where date >= "2024-03-31";

# log out of database and rerun smartform updates

smartform-updater daily_betfair_mappings

Answered: daily_betfair_mappings

Sun, 31 Mar 2024 08:14:17 +0000

Yes; this was caused by the change to BST.

The mappings are fixed for today, however to update you will need to delete all today’s entries in your local table and rerun smartform updates, as follows:

# log in to smartform database

> delete from daily_betfair_mappings where date=curdate();

# log out of database and rrerun smartform updates

smartform-updater daily_betfair_mappings

Answered: Is there a problem, several of the daily tables are empty today

Sun, 03 Mar 2024 09:46:57 +0000

NB: This issue is now resolved, the updater should work and load for daily_races, daily_runners, daily_races_beta and daily_runners_beta for today.

Answered: Gauging the strength of a race from future wins/places out of the race

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 19:33:44 +0000

Yes - you can use the fields that we created for this type of analysis in the historic_runners_insights tables, table schema here:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/historic_runners_insights

These are the data from that table to look at in particular:

prev_race_runners_NTO	integer	From the horse's last race, what is the total number of horses that have already had one run next time out (that ran in that original race)
pct_race_winners_LTO	numeric	From the horse's last race, what percentage of the horses that have run next time out have won
pct_races_run_LTO	numeric	From the horse's last race, what percentage of the horses that ran in the race have run at least once in another race
race_winners_LTO	integer	From the horse's last race, what number of horses have won when racing next time out

Answered: 'weight_pounds' in the daily and historic runners

Sat, 10 Feb 2024 12:11:17 +0000

Hi - yes that's correct.

There is also a fuller answer on the same question here:

https://answers.betwise.net/761/smartform-weight-carried-question?show=761#q761

Note you can use the new search bar facility in the top right on Betwise Q&A to find similar answers - typing "weight_pounds" as the search term pulled this up.

Answered: Beta tables - 'historic_runners_beta'

Wed, 07 Feb 2024 18:41:58 +0000

Yes - all the tables are available from the members' download links - I've just searched your user details and historic data re-download was not enabled, but is now. Any issues please get in touch.

Answered: Is creating new tables a bad idea?

Thu, 18 Jan 2024 22:29:15 +0000

and make sure to create an index on any columns that you frequently use in a WHERE statement,,

otherwise the query will take ages.

Answered: Missing historic Betfair win prizes

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 18:21:56 +0000

The data is alll pulled from the BSPs that Betfair publishes in CSV format on a daily basis, and occasionally there are missing data. It's also important to join this with Smartform data using the ID mapping that is provided within the table in order to establish that any runner in question finished the race.

That said, we will run some stats doing just the above to find if the missing percentage is greater than usual in these years.

Answered: NonRunners Removal

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:48:12 +0000

Hi - the answer is we show them usually within 5 minutes or so of receiving data in our licenced feeds (which many other sites also use) - thus you should usually *not* see a large lag between fetching the data and other sources displaying it.

Answered: API rather than running Updater tool?

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 17:44:40 +0000

Hi - no plans for an API as yet, however we do have users successfully running the updater who use Azure.

Answered: Can you query on BSP?

Sat, 06 Jan 2024 11:36:08 +0000

Yes. You need to use the betfair_historic_win_prices table and join this to any of the other tables you need for your other criteria.

This blog post uses some example queries from the table that you can adapt, see:

https://blog.betwise.net/2019/07/08/bookmaker-vs-betfair-odds-comparison/

Answered: No data updates?

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 21:43:45 +0000

Looks like a rare network error occurred earlier.

All updates should now be available.

Abandoned races in historic_races_beta

Sun, 03 Dec 2023 09:37:51 +0000

Hi

I can't see any way to tell if a race was abandoned in historic data - is there a way? edit: Just to clarify my question, if a race is deemed abandoned in daily_races_beta, you generally don't see historic_races_beta/historic_runners_beta data for these (I do have examples of a few exceptions). But if the race is abandoned after we get the daily_races_beta update, there doesn't seem to be any way to tell from the historic_races_beta/historic_runners_beta data that the race was abandoned.

You can see this fairly easily with the following SQL:

select * from daily_races_beta dra
left join historic_races_beta rb on dra.race_id = rb.race_id
where rb.race_id is null

returns 9128 rows

Thanks

Answered: Forecast Price daily vs historic

Wed, 22 Nov 2023 14:18:07 +0000

There can be discrepancies based on timing of the daily data versus historic data since forecast prices are first issued at the earliest declaration stages and can be updated post reduction in number of runners. Where you have exactly the same number of runners in the daily data as the historic data, we would expect fewer discrepancies, if any.

Answered: Database on AWS?

Tue, 21 Nov 2023 14:48:10 +0000

You'd set up your AWS host as a vanilla Linux server and run the updater as a "cron job". You can edit your cron table using the command "crontab -e". Here is the relevant entry in one of mine:

30 09 * * * $HOME/smartform/updater/smartform-updater all-feeds

Edit the path according to where you have installed your software. The first four characters cause this to be run at 09:30am daily. You can either amend to 21:30 per your requirements, or even run the updater twice daily. If you only run it the evening before you won't pick up the new "insights" data for the day or the latest non-runners table.

Answered: Can updater change historic/daily races/runners for a previous date

Wed, 15 Nov 2023 07:35:05 +0000

The updater updates all tables - depending on the parameters you have used when calling or setting the command - with the latest data since the last time that data was updated. It uses the "loaded_at" field that you can find in all tables in order to determine the last update on your local database and then fetches and loads all data for each table that it was called for.

If for some reason you had missed a day in the past, the updater would not "know" this, since it is using the most recent 'loaded_at' timestamp in your database to determine what updates you should receive. Running the updater more than once a day will not alter this behaviour - if you've already fetched the latest data (oe. there are no more updates subsequent to the loaded_at timestamp.

If you are sure you have some racing days missing, you can reload the entire database as an absolute backup.

Database Sample

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:28:38 +0000

Hi There do you have a sample of the Smartform database? At least the headers? It's difficult to know what I'm purchasing.

Thanks

Steve

Answered: Starting and forecast odds

Wed, 18 Oct 2023 07:05:12 +0000

The starting price is the starting price - so in fact it is unknowable until after any race has in fact started; it is the last price for each horse at which decent money was laid just before the off.

The market is dynamic before that point, and in a constant state of flux, so the best that can be achieved in terms of "knowing" the starting price in advance is an estimation. That estimation will of course be more accurate the closer to the race time off that any prices are collected. The Betfair API is probably your best option for grabbing back prices just before any race; however, that itself is a different system to the starting price mechanism - a comparison of these prices and more is covered in this blog piece which may be informative, and also discusses the value of forecast prices in the Smartform database and betfair early prices (which are included with the Betwise oddslines):

https://blog.betwise.net/2019/07/08/bookmaker-vs-betfair-odds-comparison/

Forecast odds

Tue, 17 Oct 2023 10:33:14 +0000

One thing I've noticed with historic_runners_beta is that the forecast odds are usually considerably higher than the market odds (or starting price) when daily_runners_beta is published and available. When I run my simulation, I keep a cash PnL based off this forecast_odds field, but it means the PnL, in the majority of cases, is considerably higher than real life which has been proven over the last month or so of actual betting.

Could someone please explain how this field is sourced? Is there a way to add a field to the historic_runners_beta table which reflects something more akin to the market odds or starting price? My analysis does take into consideration the odds but given I'm modelling my algorithm on historic data, it would be good if the historic data had as close to starting price at race time as possible.

I just saw the oddsline facility on Betwise. This may help but I'll need to do some further investigation into that. A quick look reveals that I'm not going to find starting price in there.

Thanks

Answered: Differences in advanced_going and going

Wed, 27 Sep 2023 12:04:17 +0000

Unfortunately, daily going descriptions are constantly changing in advance off racing and even during racing, and the descriptions are highly heterogenous in nature, so there is no easy solution, however we provide a number of utilities to assist with a) keeping on top of changes in going and establishing what the going is, and b) comparing going.

Firstly, all subscribers have access to the race_going pages from the members area, and can ingest these changes - along with corresponding race_ids matched to Smartform, as part of their daily updates - we would ask that updating is done in fair use terms (eg. at midday and possibly just before the race off time).

Secondly, we provide simplified going descriptions to fit in with the purpose of what you are trying to achieve above within the *insights tables. See the simplified_going and grouped_going fields (and corresponding descriptions) at:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/historic_runners_insights

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/daily_runners_insights

Last but not least, users can apply their own transformations to the daily going data, using the type of logic described above, since descriptions are often highly variable and open to interpretation. For this very reason, there is ongoing work in British racing to standardise going descriptions against quantifiable criteria, as well as to measure going outside text based descriptions issued by the Clerk of each course.

Answered: historic_races_beta missing races?

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 13:51:26 +0000

There are no missing races from the database here, the issue is that you should only use races for your historic analysis that have results associated with them, so discard any races or horses from the daily races that do not, if using the data for historic analysis.

Remember that daily races are compiled in advance (essentially racecards) before the races actually occur. Any horse that is listed may subsequently be declared a non-runner, and any race may be subject to abandonment.

This is the case with the example you have listed - the majority of the card at Southwell on that date was abandoned, including the race in which Buckshaw Village was due to compete.

See:

https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/results/2022-09-08

Can I back test laying short priced favourites where the third favourite is less than 6 points higher

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 16:32:10 +0000

Favourites > 4/6 <6/4

Third favourite < = 6 points greater than the favourite

10 or more runners

Answered: Race distances

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:59:11 +0000

Hi - likely you are encountering the fact that the daily racecard feed includes the exact distance yards, subject to rail movements etc, and historic data often includes the rounded distance in yards or distance in yards corresponding to furlongs. They are usually small variations but will not always be an exact match.

If you want to join between both tables, a distance_furlongs variable is useful, as supplied in the *insights tables - see the schemas at:

https://www.betwise.co.uk/smartform/historic_runners_insights

This will make joining on distances between the tables easier.

Answered: Use of data commercially

Tue, 12 Sep 2023 13:48:46 +0000

Hi - the Smartform data licence is for personal use only, so cannot be exploited commercially or transferred in any way - meaning for example that none of the data can be sent to a third party or made available for others on a website

Any algorithm is your intellectual property of course, however the personal data licence does not permit reproduction of the smartform racecard data (for example) relating to the tips

Hope this is clear, but if you have any specific questions for your use case please do get in touch with us directly using the contact form on the main website.

Answered: Daily vs historic data

Mon, 14 Aug 2023 21:32:48 +0000

Hi -

The key difference is that the daily tables are advance information on races and runners and the historic tables are compiled after the race has been run.

Every day’s advance information is added to the daily tables to build up a record of advance data (ie data that is available in advance of the race, a.k.a racecard data)

we cannot therefore know a race time in advance of a race but only after it has been run - it will therefore only appear in the historic record (a.k.a results data)

For analysis purposes you will likely only want to use historic data.

for applying any analysis in advance of a race you will likely use the daily information.

Note that we also provide an homogenous record (which excludes results and therefore race times) for historic and daily data with the daily and historic insights tables - these are all derived variables.