Re: Pucker Up (RotW) Turf Talk (489 Views)
Posted by:
Barry Irwin (IP Logged)
Date: September 15, 2007 07:02AM
The best grass numbers in the world are made by Timeform.
There are two Timeform numbers: a) Timefigure, a raw number reflecting the time of the race and b) Timeform Rating, a subjective number assigned in pounds to reflect the quality of the animal.
Because grass races generally lack pace, Timefigures are relatively useless.
Timeform ratings, on the other hand, offer the worl's best assessment of the quality of a racehorse.
It is the assessment of a horse that is worth considering.
Timefigures are worwhile only in learning if a horse ran too fast recently to make him react to it.
There are no ratings in the United States that are comparable to Timeform's and, until somebody develops them, numbers generated in our country will remain sketchy at best.
FYI, I have never relied on numbers in this country for grass racing, because they offer little help in running a stable.
I am sure that Jerry does the best job he can and that he has had his share of good winners. Jerry is no dummy. It is just that the very nature of grass racing makes numbers for individual races impossible to quantify.
By the way, not to make this a commercial, but in the last 20 years horses both owned and managed by me have won virtually every grass race worth winning in the United States with the exception of the Breeders' Cup Mile (and we could have possibly won it one year when a horse broke down a day before the race that had a big shot). We have also won some of the biggest international races in the world and raced numerous champions. All without numbers. That must mean something.