classhandicapper...

I like to consider myself somewhat of an expert on the Beyer's. I check all the Beyer's in each edition of Simulcast Weekly. I see the "adjusted" Beyers you speak of all the time. It isn't always a split variant either. It is sometimes just one race in the middle of a group of others, not at the beginning or end of the card. I agree the figure should be left as is, ala During should have gotten a 92. Although the figures might represent a more accurate picture of the horses who were up close to the pace, they greatly distort the closers numbers.

Example, horse A runs :43 1:10 while hanging on to win by a nostril. Horse B comes from the clouds to just miss. Applying the same variant that other races were assigned would give Horse A a figure of 90. The problem is, Horse A always runs in the low 100s. So the Beyer guys will arbitrarily bump the race to 100 or so. Probably a true reflection of Horse As ability on a Beyer scale. The problem is Horse B, who should have gotten a 90 Beyer as well, is now showing a 100 also.

For the record, they do the same thing in reverse as well. A filly named Mossflower was given a 101 for an allowance score at Belmont a few years ago when the variant given to all the other races would have given her a 114 or so. She was entered in a G1 Stakes race next out, and paid $11 due to that 101 Beyer in the PPs.

I don't mind these things, and actually track them and have been known to make a nice score from them.

I guess the point of all this is it really helps to understand the process of how the figures you use are made. Not just the overall process, but each figure on its own merits.