I have been handicapping on an almost daily basis for the last 40+ years...but I have never bothered to use a database in my practice. In fact...it took me almost 40 years to give up my printed edition of the DRF. So, even after all these years of handicapping experience, I have all these handicapping factors swirling inside my head...and I haven't been able to put them in any kind of order so I could use them within a proper "frame of reference".
I often see a horse who shows an uncharacteristically good, or uncharacteristically bad, last race...or a horse who steps drastically up in class after sharp efforts...or a horse who is stepping drastically down in class off of lackluster efforts...or a sharp horse who has been claimed by a much worse trainer...or a dull horse who has been claimed by a much better trainer...or a horse who has been running big speed figures at a minor track and now moves to the "majors"...or a horse who has been running slower speed figures at a major track but now moves to the "minors". I see all these horses and I would like to have some idea of how these types of horses perform over a large sample of similar situations. And since I don't have a vast database to rely on...I would like to see a book by a reputable source who could shine a flashlight on these handicapping mysteries for me.
Maybe there are 100,000 separate handicapping factors in a race, and Barry Meadow only addressed 200 factors in his book. To the "hi-tech" player this may seem terribly inadequate, but to me it's quite satisfying...because that's still a lot better than what I myself am capable of doing. So...I give a little money to guys like Barry Meadow...and they do some of the work that I am unable (or unwilling) to do myself. And I find nothing wrong with that.
