Re barriers, I agree, I believe barriers have little importance. In fact I don't agree with most so-called racing theories, ie leaders win slow run races, alternatively backmarkers win fast run races, light weights in the wet, 2nd up hoodoo, big horses or long striders need big tracks, such & such is a leaders track, all can be argued for & more importantly against, & there are literally thousands more. Could one of the stats people do a study of inside versus outside barriers (field of 10, 1-5 inside, & 6-10 outside) over say the last 1000 races, all distances, fields, tracks, conditions. My guess would be 55% inside to 45% outside, no great advantage. If I studied the form & came down to 2 picks, 1 drawn the inside & 1 drawn the outside, I would take the outside. More likely to be better odds & more likely to get a clearer run. Just my opinions.