>Maybe he's an old-timer like me who grew up
with Ainslie "Class prevails" mentality, yet
my favorite races to handicap are stake sprints (where pace-is-the-race) and turf routes (class rules) IMHO.<

Yep. I'm more speed figure oriented than Tom was because the figures are so much better these days, but I am not a slave to them because I know that even the best figure makers (like Brown) run into difficulties, complexities etc...