Help With Ratings

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PaulPerton1

At the Start
Joined
Feb 22, 2010
Messages
16
Hi All,

My first post so please be gentle. I have been working on some ratings which i believe have been fairly accurate in predicting race results.

However i was wondering if there was any books on the subject that any of you could recommend to help me on my way.

I have Mordin on time which helps me with Speed Figs and a book called Class Figs that adds another few details onto speed figs. But i am after something say more traditional

Cheers
 
Hi Paul,

Welcome to the forum!

I couldn't recommend the Andrew Beyer books enough. I see them as essential reading for anyone interested in producing their own ratings. "Picking Winners" and "Beyer On Speed" are the two obvious ones. I've revolutionised my personal ratings and punting since reading them. Mordin is excellent but he is a little mad at times and it's wise using other sources. Beyer also recommends a few other American authors in the two books I've mentioned.

I've ordered but not yet read "Investing at the Racetrack" by William L Scott which I've heard good things about.
 
Hi and thanks for those, I have always wondered about the Beyer books but was concerned that they may be too American focused. But I will get them.

Many Thanks
 
There are sections which take some adjusting to but I'd recommend watching an evening or two of decent American racing to understand some of the concepts he explains but the basics are the same and I think they are excellent reads.
 
Desert Orchid said:
Ignore anything Nick Mordin writes. He's a charlatan.
Click to expand...

He goes off on some tangents and has some funny ideas but Mordin On Time is an exceptional book which explains speed ratings to a beginner better than anything else out there. I've got a lot to thank him for, as has Warbler I believe. He is only a starting point though.
 
The information on compiling speed ratings and standard times were very useful to me. I hope the Beyer books the first of which arrived today will give me another angle. I am hoping to find a book that will provide me some insight into other ratings methods out there. Or how to compile a private handicap this is something that interests me greatly.

So if anybody has any books on this then that would be a great help for my quest for better returns
 
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Having read both Beyer and Mordin, I'd say the latter got his ideas from the former and messed it all up, but good luck to you anyway Paul. You seem to be doing OK.
 
Welcome Paul.

Dessie - Mordin freely admits that Beyer was his inspiration, but he adjusted the methods primarily for British NH racing, in particular his experiment in betting for 1 year on top-class chasers during the 90's.

As you say, he's a good starting point, but to finesse your ratings read other authors and also review your own ratings at regular intervals. Some things have changed since Mordin's experiement, so one's system must also.

For myself, being a complete dunce with numbers, I use Mordin's basic ratings system as a pointer to a horse's ability in various classes, back it up with form-reading to eliminate no-hopers in a particular race, then make my final decision at the paddock. (Works for me, but it does mean that I get accused of after-timing!)
 
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