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[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by GBL

The original question impacts only the handicappers whose handicapping is numbers driven -- be it human or computer generated. How about people, like myself, who do not cater any human or computer-generated numbers in their handicapping? Then the answer would be: It does not matter. It's only about the presentation of basic data and which format is kinder to eyes and easier to browse.

Basic race data comes from the single source, Equibase, regardless of the product. That's the basic thing.

So if you are a 'Number Guy' (Beyer, Prime Power etc), Paulick Report published four-part series , for better or worse, to understand that basic philosophy behind these numbers, as it exists today.

https://www.paulickreport.com/horsep...-beyer-method/

https://www.paulickreport.com/horsep...into-the-race/

https://www.paulickreport.com/horsep...demonstration/

https://www.paulickreport.com/horsep...ore-computing/

There were a couple of minor errors in that series, but it was still an excellent look into the technical and philosophical differences between the figure makers. That's what accounts for all the differences you see if you lay out the figures for multiple providers for any race.

I used to spend a LOT of time trying to understand all those differences and work towards a more perfect figure. But ultimately I decided that figures aren't best used to separate closely matched contenders. There are too many subtle subjective, philosophical, technical, and trip related issues that impact them for them to be reliable. IMO, their best use is to quickly identify contenders that you can then separate by digging deeper into those back races, making projections about today's race, and most importantly deciding if you are getting a good price.