Footnote Procedures

In order to provide consistency in the composition of chart footnotes, the following procedures MUST be followed by each member of the Equibase Track & Field staff. Obviously, each chartcaller has a slightly different writing style, however there are basic elements that should be contained in each and every footnote to ensure this consistency. A number of these elements, along with procedures to be followed are outlined below.

• All words in chart footnotes MUST be spelled out completely. No abbreviated words are acceptable.
• All horse names contained in footnotes must be capitalized.
• All horses that run in a race must have a comment in the footnotes. In some instances horses do not do much during the running of a race. In those cases a few words are acceptable. (SKIP AWAY was always outrun.)
• Proper sentence punctuation is a MUST. The usage of commas between phrases is critical.
• Claims of foul by either riders/trainers/ or owners must be denoted in footnotes. The proper format for describing foul claims is as follows:
• FOLLOWING THE ENTIRE FOOTNOTE FOR THE RACE, a few sentences will be written to describe the claim of foul such as "The (rider/trainer/owner) of SKIP AWAY claimed foul against TOUCH GOLD for interference (alleged interference if foul claim is not allowed) entering the stretch (always state where the incident occurred). The claim of foul (was or was not) allowed."
• If the claim of foul WAS allowed, the sentence should continue "and SKIP AWAY was disqualified and placed second (official placing)."

• In some instances, chartcallers may want to be more specific as to the nature of the interference (bearing in or out, shying from whip, etc). This practice is totally acceptable.
• Equibase chart footnotes WILL NOT comment on any horses that are scratched out of the post parade OR make any comments regarding the switching of wagers from the scratched horse to post time favorites, etc.
• Equibase WILL denote any unusual circumstances regarding the running of the race or collection of data. For example," Race was hand timed"; "Race declared no contest", etc.