Privateer

A question about how to look at stats

I have a total of 17484 runners of which 4611 placed (including winners) and 1536 were winners only

The way I look at them is all the 17484 runners and see what runners I can rule out to increase my overall % place getters and winners

Or should I just look at all the place getters/winners and find what are the most common occurring stats and removes the least number of runners?

Thanks

Wise One