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[MJC922]

Having wrestled for many many years with time as the measure of class I eventually had to walk away from it. It was a difficult choice because I believe in a perfect world the clock will in fact allow us to capture class within the effort (as pace) however IMO there are currently too many other factors around to obscure this and it's not likely to change anytime soon (if ever), factors like wind, humidity, surface speed and then the real kicker are incorrect timings which my last research in this area flagged literally thousands per year on an annual basis (that is if you're breaking it down to interior fractions). So I mean absolutely no disrespect to those who stay on in the speed figure battles, but the best thing I did for myself was to get away from time. These days I generate class ratings instead of speed, horse against horse stuff, not Jim Quinn's class of the field ratings but ones of my own design. If we can rate an effort for class that's a start, I'm sure there are many ways other than mine. Though I haven't researched which efforts to use I have for years leaned toward using two relatively recent efforts. My leanings these days are to use class as an early elimination, and then move more deeply into current form to separate contenders, bringing in supplemental info from replays and physical appearance, and last but not least the odds I'm being offered will quite often be the deciding factor in which one gets the final investment especially in contentious races.