it appears difficult to obtain "true" figures for average prizemoney per start....most formguides include in the figure money earned from race bonuses etc, which distorts the true picture....this is quite easy to see when you go to the horse and actually add up the money it has earned and come up with a totally different prizemoney figure to that which is beside the horses name.....or do you think these bonuses should be part of the actual figure??

Noel, I wasn't aware they added bonuses to the figures, but if they are added uniformly - why wouldn't they be? - then the published average prize should still be a reliable tool. Whether a figure without these bonuses would be a more reliable tool, don't know.

I personally find the published average prize a very reliable tool in selection, though not on its own, of course. Combined with other factors.

What sort of bonuses are we talking about? If you remove these bonuses are you likely to get very different results? For instance, are there horses who haven't won much prize money per race but have won lots of bonus dollars that makes it seem as if they have? I don't know. But I suspect the bonuses go with the prize and you won't find horses who have bonus money without prizewinnings, and so it shouldn't make a lot of difference. Unless the bonuses aren't related to performance - extra bucks for nice grooming? - which would be a worry.

Hermes