Track Conditions have no bearing ?? .. i dont understand this one ..
Barriers aswell ...i agree a fit , class horse can over come a bad barrier but barrier postions cant be ignored...a good horse can overcome a wide barrier depending on its barrier speed and the run into the first turn..,,

example : Rashini last weekend at Doomben...the horse is flying but from that outside barrier raced wide the whole way and was a certainty beaten..

I agree with just about everything else though..
especially staking and your thoughts on progressive stakings...

must admit i'm still confused on your selection method though...

Unless your on track and a good judge on horse flesh and even then fitness is hard to judge... Most trainers have a there own full size track with stable mates to run against...,,its hard to judge how much work they've done and especaily how much fast work.....
You can get a gauge a horses fitness sometimes by guessing there intended target race and how they've gone first up ...but its still not an exact science..

Great thread Easy..i hope you keep it going and explain to us novices exactly how you go about your selection process..