Thanks for the explanations Allan.

I also went for what I thought was "value" and bet Skip Queen. I was concerned about the "double layoff line", meaning another layoff after racing only once, following an extended layoff. I understand your thinking that this could be a positive sign that the trainer recognized the horse's reactions to previous tops. Do you worry that you give the trainer's too much credit in these situations? How many trainers follow speed figures? After I lost on the race and before I read your post, I felt like I made a stupid bet. the reason is because my doubts about what I called a "double layoff", were offset by the odds being offered. The "tiebreaker" if you will, should have been the trainer. And in this case, it was a no-name trainer, not somebody who gives one confidence.

As for the race on July 15th, thanks for clarifying. I have read multiple discussions here on 0-2-x, but had not read anything about 0-3-x before your comments today.

Thanks again,

Jim