Originally Posted by beton

However I realize that they are crucial, maybe the crux, to betting. Form is history, ratings are history with experience. Ratings are selective (specific qualifying races), formula based where all races are rated. Prepost is history with experience. The oncourse openers bring history and new data since the last start. Fluctuations are two pronged. They are an indication of how the market is incorporating new, up to the minute, data and shows what the bookie must do to balance his book. The SP is the culmination of all available data right or wrong.