PLANS for Irish racing to finally have sectional timing technology in action across all tracks remains on course to be launched on January 1st 2024, with officials insisting there are no further delays to the lengthy rollout.

That will come as music to the ears of those who have been waiting for the system to become operational since it was first promised for all Irish racecourses by January 1st, 2017.

Several trials have taken place since then and sectional information for a selection of tracks and races were published in recent years. However, there were also high-profile errors in sectional data for major meetings such as the Irish Derby and Irish Champions Weekend last year.

In July of this year, it was announced that live, in-race timing information will be broadcast on-screen and published online for all races at the 26 Irish racecourses from New Year’s Day onwards in 2024.

The system is operated by Racecourse Media Group’s timing partners, Coursetrack, and involves horses carrying lightweight GPS trackers, designed to fit within the saddlecloth. According to Coursetrack, the trackers connect directly to a centralised operation at Racing TV’s London studios, meaning there is no need for antenna installations on-course.

Coursetrack’s managing director Dave Tharp told The Irish Field: “We are delighted to be working with Horse Racing Ireland and the Association of Irish Racecourses on this exciting project and delivering our latest GPS technology to all the racecourses throughout the country from January 1st.

“This ultra-reliable, low-latency and easy-to-interpret data offers a scientific evaluation of a horse’s performance and serves a valuable tool for analysing a race and for in-running betting.”

Coursetrack say sectional time reports for each race will be published in the results section on racingtv.com/results, and other affiliated websites, the day after racing.