Once upon a time one would be careful to enter a race like the nursery if you didn't think you had a horse who was graded race material. There was every chance you could pick up a rating that could prove costly if you were wrong. In that way the sport was protected that (barring the occasional mistake) things hung well together.
Now though, a rating is such a temporary number, you will struggle to find horses who do not change as often as the weather. So one may as well just have a dip. I have noticed that Spies and Erasmus L are not shy to change the class of races often with runners and so far ratings drop to accommodate a loss of form almost in real time.
It's hard to say whether this is good or bad, it just depends on how you think the system should allocate the finite wins available. My view is that strategy on how one campaigns a horse should be part of the game and that ratings should be stickier.
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