Hi Blocka39,

I've had quite a bit of experience with SPSS, and I'm sure it could be of benefit. (For those who haven't heard of it, SPSS measures and reports on the validity of relationships between variables).

The biggest problem that I see is how those variables are imput into the programme. The data must be in numeric form only -- not a problem for weight, TAB number, finishing position, etc. But for variables such as class, track condition, jockey, trainer and venue, the data must be converted into numbers.

Another problem would be that the data you are analysing is of different types, even though it is all numeric. For example, $4 is worth twice as much as $2. A 2400m race is twice as long as a 1200m race. But if you allocate a fast track a "1" and a heavy track a "5", then a slow track ("4") is not worth twice as much as a good track ("2"). While SPSS can handle such different data types (specifically nominal, ordinal and interval data) the way that you code the data will affect the outcome of the tests. Interpretation will be difficult.

That said, it certainly has possibilities. You need a racing fan who is a stats expert to combine the two. But best of luck to you for looking "outside the square".

Monkeyinjapan