Linda-- I agree.

Kev-- The differences in numbers between us and Rag are due to a lot of differences in the way we do things-- sprint/route relationships, their unwillingness to give out good numbers on wet tracks, their insistence that track speed does not change despite water being added during the card by people, and subtracted by nature, in variable amounts, their insistence on using broad averages, the fact that Ragozin only does 2 circuits, making the relationship between many circuits out of whack.

I posted the BC numbers, and I'm surprised there hasn't been discussion of the differences, but let me point out that it's Ragozin's insistence that the track speed stay the same that resulted in their making the Distaff totally collapse (one filly pairing her top, every other filly running at least FIVE POINTS off their top in a GRADE ONE-- anyone believe that?), while giving Pleasantly Perfect a SEVEN AND A HALF point new top. Part of the problem there is the California sprint/route issues on Ragozin-- they robbed PP in all his previous routes. On BC day the card was mostly routes, so they did the day to the previous numbers of the routers, many of whom had been running out of town, which forced them to give that huge number to Cajun Beat-- that's what Michael was referring to the other day. The other sprint came at the beginning of the card, when the track was a lot slower.

On moving the scale, I'm waiting to see whether the various anti-drug initiatives slow the horses down.

Although it is hard to answer this in a vacuum, forward moves on off tracks can be a plus, if they are not new tops, and the horse does not have a history of preferring off tracks. I try not to play cheap claimers unless they are part of a multiple race bet I'm involved in, and then I spread out if possible. I'm going to ignore the Ragozin-is-better-for-stakes comment-- see my comments above.

Asfufh-- sometime when things slow down you should ask Alan if he can post the past BC winners, and you can work out the comparisons. Beyer did the same thing as Ragozin (didn't slide the day), which affects the comparisons for them a lot. It's interesting-- I did BC day out of order when I got back because of all the interest, and saw the slide. When I then did the previous two days and saw the track had done the same thing I started grinning-- very gratifying.

Beyerguy-- there undoubtedly is some place for those discussions. This ain't it. I'm being nice about this.



TGJB