SilverCharm,

I think the weight assignment was ridiculous, but somewhat understandable.

I don't think most racing secretaries are very speed figure oriented when it comes to weight assigments for handicaps. I think they are actually more "class" oriented. The weights tend to be more related to accomplishments on the track - things like who beats who by how much and how often. How many Grade 1 races you have won etc....

Ghostzapper's reputation as a very superior horse comes mostly from his speed figures. On the racetrack, he had only 3 Grade 1 wins coming into today's race. I think you can also argue that the Voshburg was a weak Grade 1 and St Liam had yet to really distinguish himself at the time of the Woodward.

I'm not trying diminish him. I bet him in the BC classic off those races and that field was obviously loaded. I'm just saying that the racing secretary probably didn't look at his speed figures to get to 123. He also probably subtracted a little weight because it was his 1st race of the season and he probably wanted to make sure he would show up for this one and any other handicaps Frankel might be considering later in the season. ;-)



Post Edited (05-30-05 18:57)