Barking Buzz app mixes the positive with the laborious

The Barking Buzz app has been busy since its introduction and the load will only increase over the coming weeks.

I would consider myself a regular and standard user of the app, and overall it’s a decent experience.

There are, however, many tweaks I’d love to see, to make it more user friendly. I like the fact the results page for each race includes Tote returns, but cannot understand why you cannot swipe from one result to the next.

Also, it would improve the experience were there a summarised list of the results for each track, on each night.

Currently, checking the results requires selecting a track, then selecting a race, then going back to the list of races, and selecting another race, and so on. It’s laborious, which very much goes against the purpose of an app.

Betting and watching live racing is much of the reason for the creation of the app, but it can be frustrating trying to go from placing a bet to watching the race, particularly if it’s being done at the 11th hour.

For those who like their social media, though, the Barking Buzz (@BarkingBuzz) account on Twitter is a positive addition. The account describes itself as ‘On-course and on-line Tote Betting for the Irish Greyhound Board — in short, all you need to know about betting on the dogs!’.

In its short life, there has been plenty of information regarding greyhound racing, even the odd retweet about betting, links to videos of races and Derby reviews, and updates about what is coming up on the inter-track.

Best of all, there are some opinions in there, which takes away any feeling it might be robotic, and there is also a Barking Buzz blog, with previews for each of the heats of the Derby.

This is something that can be a real positive.

The website has also been overhauled, but I’m less enamoured by it. The layout is less intuitive and, while familiarity overcomes that obstacle, I find it somewhat cumbersome.

I don’t have the figures, but, as an example, I would be very surprised were the hits on the Talking Dogs section on a par with a similar period on the old site. It’s got nothing to do with the content, but the fact the links don’t standout when you open up the website.

I spend a lot of time on the site, mainly looking at upcoming meetings and studying videos, and on the old site I often dipped into the Talking Dogs as it was convenient. Without making a conscious decision, I find I don’t do that anymore.

There’s also the issue with the search function. Quite what it’s doing hidden away in the results section I don’t know. The Racing Post website isn’t perfect, but they understand the importance of the search option. It appears on the front page, and every other page you go to, and it’s easier to use, and much more efficient.

For those using the website rather than the app to bet on and watch the racing, the experience is better, but not perfect. The balance in your account should be more apparent at all times, and just clicking around the website and back to the ‘bet now’ area can often require having to log in again.

At this stage, there are numerous bookmakers who have fully functional apps which, having been tweaked over the years, provide great performance in a similar area.

Those issues I’ve mentioned may seem somewhat minor in the grander scheme but if, indeed, Irish greyhound racing does go out live on SIS and becomes a success, I’d worry that the functionality of their apps and websites will result in punters gravitating towards them rather than the IGB site.

Right now it’s good, but not great.

As mentioned last week, the future of Wimbledon Greyhound Stadium is still undecided, and so the committee which organised the Irish support for the Show Of Passion at Wimbledon is looking for support once more when they intend to hold peaceful protest outside the offices of the NAMA headquarters, in the Treasury Building, Grand Canal Street, in Dublin 2.

The intention is to influence NAMA, who are the current owners of Wimbledon, to sell the site to Hume Consultants, headed by Paschal Taggart. Breeders, owners, trainers and fans of the sport are asked to show their support by meeting in Shelbourne Park car park at 1pm on Friday, September 12 — the day before the Derby final.

The summer season at Youghal has been a great success, with big crowds availing of the free admission over the past six or so weeks, providing a real boost to Tote pools and bookmakers’ turnover.

The Track Supporters’ Club recognised the importance of continuing the tradition of providing free admission in this period, and it is well received.

The Club Lotto is always a great source of revenue, with club membership, which includes entry into each draw, providing much-needed funds.

On the nights when the admission is free, individual tickets really fly, which goes some way to making up for the cost, and that seems apparent over this summer, in particular, as, I believe, the jackpot has been won three times.

For this season, tomorrow night’s meeting is the last opportunity for punters to avail of the free entry.

Also tomorrow night, Curraheen Park hosts the Kanturk GAA fundraising Night At The Dogs, at the end of which there will be a donkey derby, in which racehorse trainer Mick Winters will be donning his silks.