He said at the start of the post he could see a pattern there, but could not explain it. Which probably goes to show why he didn't!

However, perhaps therefore what he means is he has no set rules but there's some "pattern" in his head to which he is adhering, some "voice" in his head, perhaps, telling him which horse to back. What's that you say? You want me to burn the village? But voice, there's a thousand people live down there, I couldn't put them in danger..... What's that? Yes, yes voice, they must pay...

Maybe he's working along those kinds of lines, in which case, I think there's more important things for him to worry about than reading 400 reaces.