To me class is just one piece of the handicapping puzzle. In my own play...I am not trying to determine which horse qualifies to be called the "class of the race"; I am trying to determine if the horse "belongs" in the field which it is asked to face today.
Long and painful experience has convinced me that "class" cannot be accurately measured by speed and pace figures...nor can it be determined by a horse's earnings.
I am primarily a pace/speed handicapper...and I have found that most horses do not reproduce their lofty speed/pace figures when they are raised in class...even if this rise in class appears insignificant to the naked eye.
Consequently...I refuse to rate horses off of races which are lower "class-wise" than the races that they find themselves in today.
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Live to play another day.
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