Tests are expected to be underway for footage of thoroughbred racing drones soon, following the resounding success of harness racing in Queensland.
Lee Carseldine has made a name for himself in the fold, hitting six for Queensland, now the pickpocket is at the forefront of the Queensland racing television coverage revolution with his company DroneIt Group providing footage Cutting-edge live stream to broadcast on Sky Racing.
DroneIt Group founder and CEO James Jones provided footage at the recent harness racing winter carnival and have their eyes set on thoroughbred racing after rave reviews from stakeholders.
It comes as Racing Queensland is set to go to great lengths to try and innovate further in its coverage of harness racing, with officials trying out the call-to-driver audio for interviews ahead. -racing, live in broadcast sections and new camera angles such as home turn and movable barrier cameras.
Images from the pilot’s camera are already used with drones.
Carseldine said providing the footage was not as straightforward as showing up and flying the drone in the field, with a thorough risk assessment required before each race meeting.
“There are a lot of things to consider from a flight perspective,” he said. “Albion Park is actually quite a difficult place to drive because there are a lot of lampposts, the indoor track is not that wide either.
“We go inside for the whole race until the last lap, then we come out in the middle.
“What we don’t want to do from a risk perspective, if something happens to the drone and it breaks down, we have to make sure the track is clear and it doesn’t affect the race.
“There is a particular height that the flight attendants want too, we would love it above the lampposts but they want it a little lower and back from an angular point of view, so we have a good drone that allows us zoom out.”
Such is the effectiveness of aerial images, flight attendants have requested that they be used in investigations.
After testing drone footage with thoroughbred races six years ago, Carseldine said they hope to break into the market soon with the huge developments in technology since then.
“It’s exciting, we can’t wait to roll it out in other areas if they want to, the next step is probably Thoroughbred too, because everyone loves this top view from a helicopter, but its cost is very prohibitive, ”he said.
“I tested it with RQ probably six years ago when I first got into drones, but it couldn’t keep up with horses.
“The drone we have now can go faster than the fastest horse in the world, we did our research.
“Gallops would be a game changer, we all know the top down view is only used on major competitions due to the costs involved in purchasing a helicopter for the whole day.
“It’s great that they are embracing the technology, it takes someone within the organization to be the gatekeeper and say ‘we really want this. “
