Joelance and Crash, like Mcain..you've done it again. two excellent posts there .THanks so much for the input..Its so great to be able to communicate with other punters again. punting can be a lonely passion..and I think a forum such as this is a tremendous asset..another advance of technology that our legendary icons did not have at their fingertips.

Don Scott said he collected too much information (which i agree with). He was trying to be a perfectionist.

I dont like brain fry either, and that is why I take someone else's brain fried ratings and then apply the very simple rules I mentioned elswhere on this forum. For other form students, their kicks are derived from doing all the form themselves...and they enjoy this more than the punt itself..

"Mentioning Don Scott makes me wonder just how good he would have been nowadays with the amount of info. we have a mouse click away ? I'm not sure of the % of race info available now Don Scott had available in his day, but he was probably winning with up to 50% less than we can access. "

yes I agree...Today is a quantum leap from the days of Pittsburg Phil and our own Don Scott. As you say,,, we hgave it so easy with all the data on tap..no filing cabintes full of racecards for m for every horse..all hand written...We are so lucky in so many ways. Just think about the videos we have now to actually revsit a race as many times as we like...Too easy!

I have only returned to the punt here in NZ becasue technology allows me to do it. When I first moved here in '92 it was impossible for me continue the way I was. Nz racing sucked as far as I was concerned and the win pools were tiny..no decent ratings services..no bookies..no fixed odds etc and most importantly, no internet or access to form that would allow me to operate in Australia from here. I had to just walk away and decide it was the end of a chapter in my life...

It really is amazing how far things have moved.
"I would predict (guess) that had Don Scott not told people about his methods or written any books we would still have ratings today."

yes I think we would have it too..would have possibly arrived from overseas, but I think it would still be weight ratings..

Don Scotts book allowed anyone to very closely duplicate what he did and I know of one ratings man/bookmaker who did exactly that.he came in with no knowledge of racing whatsoever and had never bet in his life.

Rem Plante is another Australian who has been a huge contributor to Australian racing. No question. Those still finsh photos were so precious in the days before videos..

Weight is the criteria by which the horses are handicapped...and Ive never been a big fan of race times..Im not knocking time ratings..i just dont have a successful way of using them. Weight ratings arent perfect by any means...I loved the comment that someone posted here about the horse dropping 2kgs just prior to race merely because it had a bowel movement...lol

Anyone using my longshot method yesterday had just the one bet in Sydney using the victab ratings and the nsw tab win pools... Foxy Tyra which led all the way and won at $13.06 IASbet. It only qualified in the Q plan so went around for me with just the one unit..
Unusual to have just the one bet in Sydney on a Saturday but thats all it could come up with..

In melb Final Express was the winner , and it came up using either The tab vic ratings or the qld tab ratings..take your pick..
Thought Id start monitoring the QLD tab ratings to see how they fared. QLD ratings selections were:
QLD Cold Start x1 Won 11.20
laras Way x 4

Syd: hes so canny x2
Zingam X2

melb Future analysis x1
Speedy rossa x4 (2nd) paying as much as 8.00 place
Final Express x1 Won 8.10 nsw tab 8.55 iasbet
Free at last x 4

Ive been using the Melb tab ratings so my actual bets were a little different..(Final Express being the only selection which came up in both ratings.)
I did snare a winner in Syd and Vic. but Qld is still in drought..(Might be much better using the qld tab ratings there, esp as Coldstart duly lobbed)

I also had Caprizzi Strip which paid $7 plus for a place..not much use for me as I only win bet..but results like that do show me that my methods are reasonably consistent and the horses are giving me a good sight for the money...