Trainer Form

[arsenalfh]

There's a couple of threads about this on here but with a lot of new users it would be interesting to hear some different views. I've often struggled to get my head around trainer form as Alan King or David Pipe don't suddenly become better trainers coming up to Cheltenham it's just they campaign many of their horses for this time of the year and therefore have them in tip top shape. It would be hard to have certain horses at their peak from the start of the season right through to Cheltenham and you've got to ask yourself whether the horse is in top form, not whether the trainers horses are in form. You may get trainers who kick on through December and January as the ground gets heavy or in March and April as the ground improves but again this is the horses running in their conditions not the trainer suddenly getting things right. The only time I'm concerned with trainer form is when there's a problem in the yard or if their horses are running particularily bad like Jonjo O'Neill through November. So for me trainer form just makes you feel a little better about your selection as others have said before rather than being an important factor when making a pick. For me you've got to look at the horse individually and whether it will be in top form rather than if the trainer is in top form. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Trotter]

Re: Trainer Form Agree totally ! I tend to make my selection then look at trainer form.......if the trainer is in good nick I count that as a plus and if he isn't I ignore it A lot of the pundits on TV trot out a load of old baloney about trainer form as they have to talk about something There undoubtedly are aspects of trainer form that are logical but I tend to think these are more 'trainer patterns' rather than form. I think trainers are a conservative bunch (probably in all senses!) and will generally follow the same patterns this season as they did last season For example certain trainers might like certain tracks to introduce their decent maidens at......like John Dunlop usually sent his better 2yo to Salisbury and they often placed or won at big odds first time out or second time after doing nothing on debut Others might have a particular way of operating with certain horses.......eg Johnston gets his 3yo handicapped then starts stepping them up in trip and taking advantage of the WFA scale Other patterns might involve bringing 2yo on slowly over a few runs.......so they'll almost always improve from run to run. Other trainers have them fit to run for their lives first time out You can also see circumstances in which a whole yard of horses might all apparently be 'in form'......if for example the yard had a virus for a while and all the horses were getting beat and dropping down the weights.......then everything clears up and he's got a yard full of well handicapped horses. generally I think trainers have their usual working methods and patterns which means that results will vary over time rather than the yard as a whole going up and down in form.