[UrbanSea]

What are your opinions on the handicapper in Ireland and the handicap ratings in general?
I'm just having a look at some entries here for some Irish racing and some of these ratings are making me scratch my head.

One horse I'm looking at won on his debut before a close third in a winners race...108?
How does a horse go up 18 pounds for winning a maiden having previously finished seventh,then forth then eleventh by two lengths?
And in other cases you'd need to pull up about 4 times in a row to drop a few pounds. Some of these make no sense.

[Bluetonic]

Originally Posted by UrbanSea

One horse I'm looking at won on his debut before a close third in a winners race...108?
How does a horse go up 18 pounds for winning a maiden having previously finished seventh,then forth then eleventh by two lengths?
.

What was the horse so we can do some analysis?

Who did it beat in the maiden? What did they do previously and after?

Who did it race against in the three other races? What did they go on to do?

[RoverJames]

Irish racing imo is a huge headache to handicap, horses are run over a variety of distances to a much greater degree than in the UK, I'm not amywhere near as confident making decisions on Irish racing as UK racing in handicaps.

[UrbanSea]

Can't remember Bluetonic to be honest but look up Make my Heart Sing is one. Won a maiden when rated 72 and the second horse had already three runs,before finishing 7th next race(also a maiden) off a mark of 82,beaten 19 lengths.

Make my heart sing was since beaten 56 lengths in a group 2 and dead last in a group 3.Just cos she was in that race doesn't mean she deserves such a high rating.

[UrbanSea]

Sometimes I'm baffled by ratings. A horse is 3rd in a handicap hurdle but is beaten 20 lengths and is risen a pound. Table Mountain goes tomorrow at Navan

[Pj!]

Originally Posted by UrbanSea

Sometimes I'm baffled by ratings. A horse is 3rd in a handicap hurdle but is beaten 20 lengths and is risen a pound. Table Mountain goes tomorrow at Navan

Depends on the race in question.

In this case the winner went up a hefty 16lbs and won next time out.
The second went up 7lb and won next time out.

So I'd say he's not too far wrong.

[UrbanSea]

Two ahead of him were obviously good. The handicapper clearly got the winners' rating all wrong at first. Still find it hard to justify a rise after a 20 length beating, with the horse behind him finishing 40 lengths beaten next run in a handicap off a pound lower

[Gringo180]

Irish racing is a disaster lads, especially the small meetings. Some of the winners that pop up at huge odds is baffling, after having no previous form whatsoever

[JimDeChamp]

I honestly think he's the most predictable man in Irish racing with ratings...

[Pj!]

Originally Posted by UrbanSea

Two ahead of him were obviously good. The handicapper clearly got the winners' rating all wrong at first. Still find it hard to justify a rise after a 20 length beating, with the horse behind him finishing 40 lengths beaten next run in a handicap off a pound lower

Well he won. Should he have gone up more than 1lb?

[UrbanSea]

Don't think so Pj, yesterday's race was very weak. Only one other horse in the race in single figures and he disappointed, it'd be harsh to hit him hard after that