I have a question as it is all a learning process particularly in the design of your own software for personal use and since Dave's video's have always been of great teaching importance, I wanted to ask when it comes to Pace handicapping and discerning your par figures. My question is to clarify as I get confused during my coding particularly with large batches of past performance and results files. When a handicapper is handicapping and choosing a paceline and goes to form his figures, the question is if the last race the horse ran was a mile on the grass, is the handicapper using the mile par time to make his figures or is every horse have to use the race coming up as the par?????? — Chuck

Actually, your software should build the appropriate RATING COLUMNS for ALL the races as they should be considered in the paceline selection process.

While DET (and HSH) both have fully functioning pace models (i.e. you can still select pacelines) that is really very old technology. Like early 1990s.

Personally, I've not selected a paceline since about 1994.

The paceline selection approach is pretty much dead.
Same with make-a-line-and-bet-into-the-tote.

In both scenarios the handicapper finds his perceived overlays pounded from projected profit to losses as the end result.

I have many columns i.e. Speed, Class Ratings, Pace, Energy, but I believe in terms of +- figures in terms of predictable improvement or decline along with Jockey/Trainer angles that combine a Performance Index Par that falls between the absolute best and the par what horses are gunning towards in terms of their improvement as each race comes. It is not difficult to see how the public thinks as a whole as the Morning Line Maker has the influence in terms of the pool. Then connections and public knowledge of the industry. So determining and using a whack of AI and factors are not required to to go completely that deep in terms what a better or any so-called perception of what a syndicate or syndicates intentions are. In terms of the enjoyment of handicapping ... I believe I was not trying to waste your time but more or less just a fundamental question regarding using a par time compared to the actual par of the race that is about to run when making ratings. I do not need to confuse the handicapping process... Statistics show if you want value over a certain odds, certain races will hit the higher odd in terms of the amount of races that are played every year or every meet. A handicapper is suppose to have many factors or objects available to their disposal... Its only how and when they decide to pull the trigger or not. I was just asking a simple question, very sorry to have wasted your time

Not sure why you'd say that you wasted my time.
You're a guy I have a lot of respect for so perhaps I misunderstood the question.

Your response seems to indicate a negative response.
Perhaps I misunderstood what you were asking - or you didn't want anything beyond a simple answer. (I do that sometimes.)
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I thought you were asking if you should use the pars to create ratings AFTER you selected the pacelines.

My answer was that you should do it BEFORE and do all of the pacelines.
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If you'd like to tell me exactly what you want, please try again.