Quote:
Originally Posted by The_Turf_Monster
Speed figures don't (and never really have) provided crucial information. I guess an argument can be made that misstiming races impacts the track variant but with the clownshow of mixed-class races that tracks run now, the variant is largely useless unless you're playing something like MNR or CT that has a rigid class system
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Obviously as someone that makes speed figures I'm not buying the bolded part. It is a race, time matters, and speed figures (along with pace figures) have always been a big part of how I play the races and I've been doing quite well for a long time after an admittedly rough first decade or so. They help me assess form cycles as horses are improving or declining, trainers that are good at "moving horses up", horses that are overrated or underrated based on archaic class designations, etc.
They help identify horses that had a tough wide trip as opposed to a wide trip that didn't hurt or is even beneficial. They can help identify track biases. I see terrible trips every day, but that doesn't mean the horse that had a bad trip is any good or will win next out. The horse might just be slow. Speed figs help with that. I could go on and on.
One man's trash is another man's treasure. The funny thing is you don't see people that use speed figures trash trip handicapping, or trainer capping, or class handicapping, or whatever. But those that don't use speed figures sure like to tell others how useless they are.
