• The Korean Journal of Applied Statistics
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.239-253
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• 2024

This research applies both point-wise and pair-wise learning strategies within the learning-to-rank (LTR) framework to predict horse race rankings in Seoul. Specifically, for point-wise learning, we employ a linear model and random forest. In contrast, for pair-wise learning, we utilize tools such as RankNet, and LambdaMART (XGBoost Ranker, LightGBM Ranker, and CatBoost Ranker). Furthermore, to enhance predictions, race records are standardized based on race distance, and we integrate various datasets, including race information, jockey information, horse training records, and trainer information. Our results empirically demonstrate that pair-wise learning approaches that can reflect the order information between items generally outperform point-wise learning approaches. Notably, CatBoost Ranker is the top performer. Through Shapley value analysis, we identified that the important variables for CatBoost Ranker include the performance of a horse, its previous race records, the count of its starting trainings, the total number of starting trainings, and the instances of disease diagnoses for the horse.