>2-- The correct analogy to the baseball example would be a horse WINNING 35% of his starts against allowance foes, and not being able to win that % in G1's, because of the level of the competition. But if a guy throws 95mph in triple A, he's probably gonna throw 95 in the majors. What that will get him depends on the competition. Hence the use of performance ratings, to cut across class designations.<

Your analogy is also correct, but we obviously diagree. I believe it goes beyond that.

Just as the final times of races get faster as you move up the class ladder, so does the pace. Within the fractions, so do the 1/16th mile bursts that determine whether you can get postion to win or not and how hard pressed you are to do it. The horses have more stamina, determination etc... That makes the races more demanding.

That is what people are generally referring to when when they use the term class - even if they don't realize it. It really has nothing to do with the designation of a race. It's related to the demands of the race over and above the final time.

You are probably right that Ghostzapper would have beaten RIM if they ran together (IMO he put in a superior performance), but I would be willing to bet almost anything that his speed figure would have been a little slower because he would have been used much harder at some point in that much tougher field to get position and eventually to get past RIM. That would have taken a small toll and slowed him down a bit.

We don't have to agree, I just want you to understand what I am saying as opposed to conventional class handicapping.



Post Edited (09-02-04 16:10)