why punish the losers mr Handicapper

Hilton you havent answered my question.

pirates wrote: Maybe we should apply your way of thinking to every sport in the world and also all the other race countries which adopt the same system as merit ratings but call it something else should also adopt your way of thinking..sport and racing must only be for the best if you cant run in the july or play tennis at wimbledon or golf at the british open you must be thrown out ..

Show me where lesser players at Wimbledon or the British Open are handicapped to beat the stars.

Over the Air wrote: Hilton you havent answered my question.

i have several times but you clearly cannot grasp it

Over the Air wrote:

pirates wrote: Maybe we should apply your way of thinking to every sport in the world and also all the other race countries which adopt the same system as merit ratings but call it something else should also adopt your way of thinking..sport and racing must only be for the best if you cant run in the july or play tennis at wimbledon or golf at the british open you must be thrown out ..

Show me where lesser players at Wimbledon or the British Open are handicapped to beat the stars.

aah now you thinking better they arent BUT they are catered for at the atp 550 and atp 250 and then lower down they play the satelite tours and the same applies to golf and the same applies to the english soccer league where you have the epl then the leagues below then the conference leagues etc ...so its strength versus strength and its competitve and if you good enough you get promoted and if you do well as a player on the lower competitons of tennis and golf you get enough points to play in the better tourneys ...same applies to racing

Seems to me the Race Figure system caters for those strength vs strength far better than your beloved MR. You still havent answered my question. Why would 90% of horses stop racing because the RF is reintroduced. Smoke and mirrors and bs may work for most but it dont for me

Bob Brogan wrote:

Federico wrote: Well said Ken,
I am surprised that this subject would ever raise debate. The undeniable truth is that a thorough that does not win should not be penalised. This is a disservice to the horse, the trainer and the owner.

If you don’t want to be penalised, don’t run in handicaps

where are you gonna run the fully exposed 60s to 70s-rated horses?

a case in point is the 1-time winner Not a Word(5yo). this mare started off with a 80 rating and tumbled down to a 47 then raised to a 54, again she was lowered to a 51 then raised to a 54 and now she's running off a 52.

Over the Air wrote: Seems to me the Race Figure system caters for those strength vs strength far better than your beloved MR. You still havent answered my question. Why would 90% of horses stop racing because the RF is reintroduced. Smoke and mirrors and bs may work for most but it dont for me

Strength vs strength should be catered for by plate races, handicaps are (mostly) for the rest; and many horses would surely stop racing if we return to the RF system, because it would make even less economic sense to keep them in training; less horses means fewer races and even smaller fields and pretty soon we willl have racing once a month

THE Biggest races in SA are actually handicaps.....just slightly disguised with "race conditions " attached but they are still handicaps and to a MAN everyone on here says he dreams of winning the July NOT the DERBY

Melbourne Cup same thing a handicap.

keniza999 wrote: a case in point is the 1-time winner Not a Word(5yo). this mare started off with a 80 rating and tumbled down to a 47 then raised to a 54, again she was lowered to a 51 then raised to a 54 and now she's running off a 52.

That's not the whole story though.

Not A Word ran 2nd on debut, then won as 12/10 fav in her next start in July 2015. Very much above the average. 3 dismal runs in oct nov dec and she was off till the following Aug now rated 65, or poor.

14th run - 3rd 2.25 L rated 54
15th run - 7th 2.60 L rated 52
16th run -11th 3.10 L rated 51
17th run - 2nd 0.15 L rated 54

The winner there Skyfire went up 5 against Not A Word's +3.
And the 4th horse (Peggy's Dream) then beat Skyfire by 7.75 L and then won again
The 3rd horse SITIA (no change) got beaten again by Not A Word by 0.05, so the handicappers +3 was spot on.
Poor Skyfire now 5L behind those two again.

The horses in front of Not A Word in her 18th start ran 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15 but you don't know their stories or their ratings.

Frodo wrote:

Over the Air wrote: Seems to me the Race Figure system caters for those strength vs strength far better than your beloved MR. You still havent answered my question. Why would 90% of horses stop racing because



if we return to the RF system, because it would make even less economic sense to keep them in training; less horses means fewer races and even smaller fields and pretty soon we willl have racing once a month

Frodo look at zim. Racing. Borrowdale used to race 4 times a month.....now twice a month, why ? not nearly enough horses racing there and every 2nd week most horses are racing against each other AGAIN !!