def update_stats(self, stats, value, _type, sample_rate=1):
        """
        Pipeline function that formats data, samples it and passes to send()

        >>> client = StatsdClient()
        >>> client.update_stats('example.update_stats', 73, "c", 0.9)
        """
        stats = self.format(stats, value, _type, self.prefix)
        self.send(self.sample(stats, sample_rate), self.addr)