If you checked my win/place% ratings method you will find in BR at least some satisfactory results for the past two weeks. I can improve on them by using the following formula to covert win% to an equivalent place%. ( My earlier approach was a simplified version of this.)

EqivalentPlace% = (Win%-22.8)/12.3*15.2+49.5

This is easy to do in a spreadsheet column, then just find MAX(EquivalentPlace%, Place%) and this is your rating for the horse. I find the top three need to be considered.

I doubt that you will find a free set of ratings that will give results any better than this will. This is a good starting point and some of you with more resources and ability than me might come up with a great filter to produce a pot.

I do not have extensive resources and my calculations for the means and standard deviations of win% and place% used in this formula are based on calculations from a few thousand horses done over several years. Anyone want to provide better figures?