Your not having a mid-life crisis are you chrome :-)) ?

Righto EasyRun, now we get the gist except for your psychology [you either have it for this game or you haven't]. I can see where your coming from except for 2 areas. You seem to understand that winning at this game is to a large degree understanding horses themselves. If you do you would also know horses are pretty one dimensional as far as race running goes. I find it a bit strange that you leave out 'pace' as being an important consideration [?].

The other point is:
Quote:"Weight, Barrier Draw, Jockey or Trainer, Sectional Times, Barrier Trials, Gear, Steward Reports, Ratings, Systems, Track Conditions, ctdw and all their variations'. End quote.
None of these should have a bearing on the Selection Process.End quote.

I agree wuth you about ratings and systems only so far they are not on any handicapping or serious money making radar of my own.

So if a horse presents for you well [having satisfied your criteria], none of the above mean anything? A 4kg. claiming apprentice [or even a 3kg.] on a mid-pacer in barrier 3 in a field of 14 runners on a small track would be a good bet would it, as long as the horse 'walks for you"?

A runner with glue-on shoes or bar plates [not that you would know as you never check] wouldn't bother you or your well protected betting roll?

I'd be interested to hear your explanation about those couple [examples] of points, because race pace, a horse's natural running style and has it got a barrier and jockey to suit [?] are all very important to this punter anyway. I certainly take notice of the trainer, track condt. to suit the runner [and the type of track: small/large] to name a few interests. Weight and time aren't out of the ballpark of my attention either.

Still, there is more than one way to skin a cat and a sharp knife would be my first choice. I'm interested to hear a further explanation of yours. Thanks for the interesting posts so far.