Charles Faul on MR

This was the article that Laff mentioned on winning ways , worth a read

Thanks bob. Really interesting....great perspective for the season around the corner!

Have we not been pleading to remove the constraints in the formulae for merit ratings? Could the NHRA also be using wrong line horses because those MR's are all messed up with the constraints? If the NHRA want to appease the connections then rather introduce allowances.

Always a pleasure and interesting to read anything that Charles writes.

Suely with his knowledge he should hold a senior positions in the racing community?

Apologies if he does

I have lots of respect for Mr Faull's knowledge ... but 2 things that could maybe be clarified ....

1. To my knowledge the WFA scale is an international scale, so is everyone that has been using it for many years, wrong ?

2. Maybe I'm missing something in his explanations, but I could not find how (based on the Met figures? ) he came to William Longsword being a 125? My own ratings (using what he terms a 'flawed' WFA scale) do not have him that high - which of course means that all the other 3yr olds are lower as well ... and also not sure that Legal Eagle ever achieved 123 .... any way great article and always something to learn ....

As a matter of comparing ratings, these are some of mine (open for debate, of course)

QP 2016
Legal Eagle - 118
Legislate - 115
Noah from Goa - 112
Cap America - 112


MET 2016
Smart Call - 116
Legal Eagle - 116
Capt America - 115


Charity Turf 2016
New Predator - 118
Saratoga Dancer - 113
Deo Juvente - 115


MET 2017
Whisky Baron - 118
Legal Eagle - 120
Capt America - 115
Gold Standard - 113
Marinaresco - 116
French Navy - 112
Bela Bela - 111
It's My Turn - 114

Looking at these ratings (calculated with the 'flawed' WFA) does seem to indicate that some horses do improve from 4 to 5 (Legal Eagle from 116 to 120) but others do not (Capt America remained at 115)

Would love to hear our indisposed friend (Rob Faux's) opinion on this article

Yes Frodo I've known Rob a long time and respect his ratings so would be interesting to get his take on this. Let me also say that guys like yourself and Pirates and Bayern who do your own ratings are well respected and for sure you guys will not always agree on what rating has been achieved at any given time. Maybe it has to do do with the line horse used. Personally I agree with you I don't believe Legal was ever 123 but some will disagree. I would also like to know if the WFA scale is an international one or not. Charles Faul certainly knows his facts and figures that's for sure but so does our old friend Mathew Lips who I'm sure is still involved. Would be great to hear Mathews take on this as well

I've said this before and will say it again....MR ratings is all balls!!!! The majority of the racing public is form studiers who rely on MR as the corner stone of their analysis...hence the majority of punters are and will always be on the losing end!!! Having said that,it was nice to read what Mr Faul is saying...and IF he is correct,I guess it can be used to get certain results...but never make it the holy grail.

You are so wrong H

The majority of winning punters will use merit ratings or their own ratings

Lol,Bob. I would say that most would be far better of than using their own ratings than the current MR ratings. You can see it happen daily...Horse A beat Horse B by so many lengths ect ...just hear all the on course commentators go on and on abt this daily.Most make their assessments solely on those numbers...instead of looking at what the actual race is showing.

I find this very interesting , anybody have the" adjusted wfa table created by form" ??? I would like to do comparisons in our normal day to day races. Really will appriciate the help.


One thing i realised that nobody ever mention date of birth comparisons.... obviously the average 2yo thats been born in august will be much better than the ones born in november for example. I know its quite technical to work it out but if you consider it, would you like a 3yo in the Vodacom July been born in august or one that is actually 4 months younger.... ?