Chrome,

Don Scott used his own Class and Weight rating tables successfully for
20 odd years but then something changed or went awry with them, and
that seemed to knock Don for six and from which he did not recover.

Many modern day analyzers think his class\weight ratings formula became
outdated because they didn't allow for speed.
Don believed times - final or sectional, to be unimportant and even misleading.

I think it should be considered one way or another because the top jockeys all seem to use it re. the pace of the race and when they make their run.
Don knew that times at different tracks varied greatly because of their shape and layout and he didn't want a bar of it.

( In another Thread here at OZ. the lads are discussing the different jockeys
and their ability to do very well at certain tracks, while not so good at others -could that be due to them not being able to do their count\strategy so well on a saucer shaped track as on a elliptical ? Then the movable rail ?
Head wind - Tail wind - Cross wind ?)

Don was exasperated by the times\computer people, he believed the computers were as baffled by times as their programmers.
Most of all he believed relative weight to be the only reliable guide to the way a horse will perform - Weight is right - Weight is always right.

But then take a race last Saturday R5 Doomben, had you backed Messiaen
you surely would have been getting ready to collect, but Mike Pelling came
and changed that in a second (He's still got it). I would love to have the Stats. re. how many times over 15 years G.Colless and so so many others has been beaten less than a neck by,
Dittman,Shoemaker,Greg Hall,Jimmy Byrne,Mike Pelling,Beadman,Dye,Oliver,Paul Harvey.

These jockeys appear to have an X tra which has to be weighed up seperately from weight\speed etc. - is it the count\strategy, or in the final metre of a race the pure aggressive will to win ?- it's one of the few things that keeps me interested - Lester Piggott had it -George Moore-Kev.Langby-Roy Higgins -Harry White, and this Paul Harvey seems to have it in spades.
I've noticed this lad Nick.Ryan maybe has it too.

Racings variables are a hell of a mountain to climb, and the luckiest people are those who have a regular job.

Regards.