Search:

I can't answer the question, G-G, but I've noticed myself a number of handicaps with the 12-0 ceiling.

The book I'm thinking of was based on Sporting Life data about trainers. It listed every trainer's annual statistics for every course, jockey etc.

It might have been called something like Trainer...

At least you get more hits at the ball than most people :cool:

Green cover?

If so, I had a copy or two of that. They would have been binned when I moved house.

Yes, I think we're pretty much on the same wavelength in this regard, barjon. When I do my ratings, the idea is to get as close a handle as possible on a horse's ability while accepting that it won't...

Yes, that's what I mean. But that 3h05m run could have been because I didn't eat enough pasta the night before, or didn't sleep as well as I should have, or any other minor reason, and maybe tomorrow...

I don't fully understand the rationale behind dropping a horse's rating on the back of its not running to form, especially when there's an obvious excuse for it.

I'm trying to think of an...

Loosely translated: "we suit ourselves"

There was a Skelton horse fell a week or two back, two or three out.

The trainer said something after the race about the handicapper not being able to put the horse up because of when it fell.

Depends on where it falls. I think nowadays if it's two out or earlier it doesn't count (might be three out), if it's after that it can count at the discretion of the handicapper.

The UK handicappers cited medians as the reason for raising the ratings of hurdlers just before the festival. They said they'd got the median hurdles rating between the two authorities at a variance...

Extreme-conditions form is always open to question regardless of the venue.

How many punters would actually back BDM to repeat the form anywhere else, though? Aintree, maybe, in equally deep...

Jodami was getting 8lbs from Run For Free when it won the Peter Marsh off 159 on its penultimate run before winning the Gold Cup.

Sir Rembrandt couldn't win the Welsh National off 147 and was...

I wouldn't rule out the possibility.





Imperial Aura also made a horrendous error that put him on the back foot but nothing else could live with the winner on the day. IA just checked out...

It does look like they're trying to make a best-fit case for a lot of the horses.

I don't have a problem with the Royale Pagaille rating but that's probably because I have him even higher :lol:
...

... well, it was until people started going on and on and on about Goshen!

:lol:

I read the blog yesterday at the BHA site.

I have to say the non-analysis of Goshen's race disappointed me. He doesn't give any substantive reasoning for arriving at his figure. It reads like he's...

I'm usually quite defensive of our handicappers but this rings alarm bells.

At the same time, it kind of backs up a comment I occasionally make, namely that the handicappers are constrained by...

Yes. I think a radical approach is needed.

We've had bookmaking in this country for almost as long as we've had horseracing. I presume back then bookmaking was illegal but suppose we'd never...

They generate billions of pounds in profit every year from punters, yes. They are licensed by the authorities to do so, on condition that they put back so much money (ie the levy) into the industry....

While I support the idea of doing away with bookmakers, I deliberately avoided saying as much in my post above, barjon.

I said they took far too much money out of the industry. That's the truth of...

I'm not sure Kevin Blake's idea is that well thought out, to be honest, which is unusual for him.

Every year the usual suspects go into whinge overdrive about the classier horses being allowed to...

New ORs, for those interested:

Shan Blue 152 (no change)
Silver Streak 163 (+5)
Epatante 161 (-1)
Frodon 169 (+1)
Waiting Patiently 167 (+4)

It will be very interesting to see how the handicapper reacts to Chatham Street Lad's win today.

A very tight looking handicap beforehand has been shot to pieces with margins the like of which you...

I'm not sure what you can expect the handicappers to do, DJ.

VLR has won a competitive (beforehand) handicap by a very wide margin and LVL has beaten seemingly superior horses who appeared to run...