Thomas Carlile (FRA) riding UPSILON in the ERM CIC *** Section A during Banbury International at Barbury Castle Estate in the village of Rockly, near Marlborough in the county of Wiltshire in the UK on 9th July 2017
A new eventing game where fans have to predict outcomes while choosing whether to follow their gut or the data has proved a hit.
The EquiRatings Stacks app, created with SAP Sports, is a strategy game, played in real time and influenced by the competition as it happens.
It was launched on 23 June for the Arville leg of the Event Rider Masters series and already has 400 downloads.
The aim is to get the most correct answers in a row to build your “stack” as high as possible. Players can choose to answer every question, or play tactically and stick to just the questions they feel sure they can answer correctly.
Questions are based on the live event as it takes place, with examples such as: “Kincooley Cruising (Tim Price) has two rounds at this level. One clear and one down last time out. Will they keep the poles up?”
The app is free to download and play, with a leaderboard showing how you compare to others, including your friends and top riders who are playing along at the same time.
The Arville game had a first place prize of an iPad, which was won by Jill Elliott with a stack of nine.
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“It’s really good fun,” EquiRatings managing director Diarmuid Byrne told H&H. “It gives fans a way to really engage with the live action.”
He added there is so much activity on social media during events that they wanted to give people another way to engage with the sport as it is happening.
“The reason we decided to link it to what we do is people love it when we make predictions and get them wrong,” said Diarmuid.
“What we have been able to show in the past two years is there is a lot of value in following data when you are trying to predict what happens next.”
The five-strong US eventing squad and eight reserve combinations have been named for the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon,
Two poles down for Tom Carlisle and Upsilon proved one of the major “stack busters” of the weekend, with more than 90% of players and the statistics predicting a clear round.
“People tell us all the time ‘you can’t predict everything based on numbers’ and ‘we know things you don’t’,” added Diarmuid.
“So we wanted to find a way of engaging with them and the live action where people could show us whether they are as good as they say they are.”
With another iPad available for the winner at Barbury (7-8 July), the game is on.
In this week’s Horse & Hound magazine, out on Thursday 28 June 2018, don’t miss our full report from the Hickstead Derby meeting, including all the showjumping and showing action, plus don’t miss our six-page report from Royal Ascot.
We also have a feature on the much discussed whip rules across the disciplines and in this week’s ‘Vet clinic’ we find out how to spot the signs of sand colic.
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Lucy is an experienced news journalist, reporter and presenter. Since joining the Horse & Hound team in 2015, Lucy has reported from major global sporting events including the Tokyo Paralympic Games and multiple European Championships, as well as Badminton, Burghley and London, to name a few. She has covered current affairs and sports news across the full spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, as well as human and equine welfare, industry news and court cases.
