Systemight

I am not a speed figures man so wouldn't have the gall to try to advise you guys on what is, or is not, the best way to use them.
However, it has been reported that arguably the top man in this field (Phil Bull),owed his success to following horses (that had produced a good Speed Rating) through thick and thin, and in fact was notorious for selecting many shock long priced winners.
His thought process being that if a horse can run to a particular time, in all likelihood,he will do it again one day.
He described Speed Ratings as a tool which doesn't tell you how good a horse is,but how bad it is not.

Having been critical of a race meeting i attended at the weekend,it's only fair to balance the books by commenting on the racing at Aintree today.
It`s probably fair to say that not every one agreed with my comments regarding Uttoxeter on Saturday,but it is what it is,I am however pretty confident however that all die hard Jump racing enthusiasts would agree with me when i say what an outstanding race the 3.30 today was.
To see our equine hero's- willing servants, beauty unsurpassed and strength and grace immeasurable,jumping, quickening,straining every sinue, stretching for the line in a 3 way war- was truly a hairs on the back of the neck moment.Who could have confidently called the winner as these three noble beasts flashed past the line?,not many i would guess.
You see this was racing,real National Hunt racing,(and the previous event with 6 still in a line at the 2nd last wasn't too shabby either),not the survival of the fittest, public flogging of tired horses in attrition and extreme conditions- which we have all had to become accustomed to over the past three months or so.
As to whether the winner should have kept the race?,well that's not for me to say,but the uncertainty added even more drama to the excitement.
If you did manage to back the winner..well done to you!!,if you were on the second or third you will probably feel a little hard done by...
 
...but what a bloody good run you had for your money!

Having been critical of a race meeting i attended at the weekend,it's only fair to balance the books by commenting on the racing at Aintree today.
It`s probably fair to say that not every one agreed with my comments regarding Uttoxeter on Saturday,but it is what it is,I am however pretty confident however that all die hard Jump racing enthusiasts would agree with me when i say what an outstanding race the 3.30 today was.
To see our equine hero's- willing servants, beauty unsurpassed and strength and grace immeasurable,jumping, quickening,straining every sinue, stretching for the line in a 3 way war- was truly a hairs on the back of the neck moment.Who could have confidently called the winner as these three noble beasts flashed past the line?,not many i would guess.
You see this was racing,real National Hunt racing,(and the previous event with 6 still in a line at the 2nd last wasn't too shabby either),not the survival of the fittest, public flogging of tired horses in attrition and extreme conditions- which we have all had to become accustomed to over the past three months or so.
As to whether the winner should have kept the race?,well that's not for me to say,but the uncertainty added even more drama to the excitement.
If you did manage to back the winner..well done to you!!,if you were on the second or third you will probably feel a little hard done by...
 
...but what a bloody good run you had for your money!

Having been critical of a race meeting i attended at the weekend,it's only fair to balance the books by commenting on the racing at Aintree today.
It`s probably fair to say that not every one agreed with my comments regarding Uttoxeter on Saturday,but it is what it is,I am however pretty confident however that all die hard Jump racing enthusiasts would agree with me when i say what an outstanding race the 3.30 today was.
To see our equine hero's- willing servants, beauty unsurpassed and strength and grace immeasurable,jumping, quickening,straining every sinue, stretching for the line in a 3 way war- was truly a hairs on the back of the neck moment.Who could have confidently called the winner as these three noble beasts flashed past the line?,not many i would guess.
You see this was racing,real National Hunt racing,(and the previous event with 6 still in a line at the 2nd last wasn't too shabby either),not the survival of the fittest, public flogging of tired horses in attrition and extreme conditions- which we have all had to become accustomed to over the past three months or so.
As to whether the winner should have kept the race?,well that's not for me to say,but the uncertainty added even more drama to the excitement.
If you did manage to back the winner..well done to you!!,if you were on the second or third you will probably feel a little hard done by...
 
...but what a bloody good run you had for your money!

Just another rip off,don't pay it!.
 
You can see the same chart on the attheraces.com website for nothing

Just another rip off,don't pay it!.
 
You can see the same chart on the attheraces.com website for nothing

Just another rip off,don't pay it!.
 
You can see the same chart on the attheraces.com website for nothing

Just another rip off,don't pay it!.
 
You can see the same chart on the attheraces.com website for nothing

Clearly you are watching a different race to me.
Are you seriously saying that Accidental Legend would not have won if he hadn't given it two further smacks up the run in?..and how do you know he is not hurting the horse?. 

Well if that's what happens in France,it must make it alright then.
True the trainers and owners can always withdraw it,but unless i am mistaken it isn't them that have to race in it.Surely the welfare of a horse must come first,second,and always!

Well if that's what happens in France,it must make it alright then.
True the trainers and owners can always withdraw it,but unless i am mistaken it isn't them that have to race in it.Surely the welfare of a horse must come first,second,and always!

Clearly you are watching a different race to me.
Are you seriously saying that Accidental Legend would not have won if he hadn't given it two further smacks up the run in?..and how do you know he is not hurting the horse?. 

Well if that's what happens in France,it must make it alright then.
True the trainers and owners can always withdraw it,but unless i am mistaken it isn't them that have to race in it.Surely the welfare of a horse must come first,second,and always!

Clearly you are watching a different race to me.
Are you seriously saying that Accidental Legend would not have won if he hadn't given it two further smacks up the run in?..and how do you know he is not hurting the horse?. 

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

Well if that's what happens in France,it must make it alright then.
True the trainers and owners can always withdraw it,but unless i am mistaken it isn't them that have to race in it.Surely the welfare of a horse must come first,second,and always!

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

I Consider myself a "lover" of horse racing but also of the horse too,and nothing upsets me more (or makes me feel guilty for that love),is when a horse dies,suffers, or even gets badly injured when on course.Some may say i'm too sentimental-maybe their right.  
I was at Uttoxeter today,and part of me thinks they shouldn't have raced.The ground was deep-the wind was strong and when you have 71 length winners, it makes a mockery of the word "racing" when in reality it was more like survival of the fittest.
When an obviously exhausted Emily's Choice walked past the winning post a couple of minutes after the rest had finished in the 2.45-shes was met with loud sarcastic cheers from the large crowd.Obviously i doubt these "cheers"were from your racing regulars (who understand the game),but even so it was unpalatable to hear and it's quite a common occurence nowadays.
Wouldn't it would be great to see these people try running and jumping over 2 1/2 miles in that ground, with a strong headwind (plus near 12 stone on their backs) to see if they feel like cheering then!.
As i say however i doubt these people were your racing regulars,and they were no doubt fuelled by a few glasses of the old amber nectar,so excuses can be made.
This excuse however can not be aimed at Paddy Brennan,who nearly two hours later was extremely hard on Accidental Legend when winning the 4.30.Looking around approaching the final flight-Brennan clearly had the race won, but even as the horse quickened away on the short run in(about half a furlong),Brennan still forcefully administered the persuader a couple more times, one even when in the shadow of the post.We can fully accept the need to give a slap just to make sure,but to continue to beat a horse after the race is won-in that ground-was to my eyes at least unforgiveable. 
At a time when Racing is under severe scrutiny from the animal rights campaigners,rides like this one can only but add fuel to their cause....and there was no need for it!.

As a young man i did speed figures for two year olds on the flat(there was no all weather racing back then) and had some success,and certainly a lot better knowledge of the form book.
However, while i started with enthusiasm,i soon found the workload a bit of a chore,particularly when the losing runs hit.What finally put me off then(as still happens now),was the constant moving of the rails making distances longer or shorter than the officially stated.Thus (to my eyes at least), made the ratings at best unreliable.
Interesting to see him mentioned here, and as an author i think Nick Mordin had few peers,indeed his book "Betting For a Living" was in my opinion the best book on horse racing betting that i have ever read.His book on speed ratings however lagged behind Andy Beyer's work "Beyer On Speed"(again only in my opinion).
One must remember that Nick Mordin's phoneline (as there was back then) was regularly listed as one of the most unprofitable Horse Racing service around, costing his devoted followers dear-clearly the man could talk the talk,but couldn't really walk the walk-well not when the money was down anyway.
Nick was last heard of having retired from Journalism to go and live in South Africa,a big loss to us all, as he had many thought provoking and innovative ideas...

As a young man i did speed figures for two year olds on the flat(there was no all weather racing back then) and had some success,and certainly a lot better knowledge of the form book.
However, while i started with enthusiasm,i soon found the workload a bit of a chore,particularly when the losing runs hit.What finally put me off then(as still happens now),was the constant moving of the rails making distances longer or shorter than the officially stated.Thus (to my eyes at least), made the ratings at best unreliable.
Interesting to see him mentioned here, and as an author i think Nick Mordin had few peers,indeed his book "Betting For a Living" was in my opinion the best book on horse racing betting that i have ever read.His book on speed ratings however lagged behind Andy Beyer's work "Beyer On Speed"(again only in my opinion).
One must remember that Nick Mordin's phoneline (as there was back then) was regularly listed as one of the most unprofitable Horse Racing service around, costing his devoted followers dear-clearly the man could talk the talk,but couldn't really walk the walk-well not when the money was down anyway.
Nick was last heard of having retired from Journalism to go and live in South Africa,a big loss to us all, as he had many thought provoking and innovative ideas...

As a young man i did speed figures for two year olds on the flat(there was no all weather racing back then) and had some success,and certainly a lot better knowledge of the form book.
However, while i started with enthusiasm,i soon found the workload a bit of a chore,particularly when the losing runs hit.What finally put me off then(as still happens now),was the constant moving of the rails making distances longer or shorter than the officially stated.Thus (to my eyes at least), made the ratings at best unreliable.
Interesting to see him mentioned here, and as an author i think Nick Mordin had few peers,indeed his book "Betting For a Living" was in my opinion the best book on horse racing betting that i have ever read.His book on speed ratings however lagged behind Andy Beyer's work "Beyer On Speed"(again only in my opinion).
One must remember that Nick Mordin's phoneline (as there was back then) was regularly listed as one of the most unprofitable Horse Racing service around, costing his devoted followers dear-clearly the man could talk the talk,but couldn't really walk the walk-well not when the money was down anyway.
Nick was last heard of having retired from Journalism to go and live in South Africa,a big loss to us all, as he had many thought provoking and innovative ideas...