Great article that tries to make sense of it in current horse racing while suggesting, at least in North America today, it makes little sense at all. I agree. From an historical perspective, handicap horse racing is about gambling acumen and not horse talent.
http://trainermagazine.com/articles/handicap-races-their-place-in-north-american-racing/2016/7/25
I didn’t read the article - print’s too small - but I miss the big handicap divisions of yesteryear with Devil His Due etc facing off against the upcoming youngsters. It just seems that there were more big races for older horses, or maybe the older horses started retiring younger?
Click on the image of the black squares (weights, I suppose), the article will reopen & then you can stretch it out for larger print.
The handicap wasn’t always about the betting but about giving the “little guy” a reason to take on Goliath.
An interesting article. The UK has a very different racing culture and so trainers know that for most of their charges ‘beating the handicapper’ is their main aim. A good horse will rise through the ranks and beat the weight until into pattern and group races that are ‘weight for age’.
The choice of ‘voices’ to give opinions in Britain was a bit odd. Neither trainer quoted are particularly well known. Mark Johnson, a top class trainer, is also a trained vet.
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