Racing thrives on debate about the horses. It is a betting sport and people back their opinions with their money. Many go to considerable lengths to seek out answers in order to get an edge. Debate often focuses on a horses optimum conditions - distance, going, track, tactics. Faced with the same evidence people can reach radically different conclusions. Reaching reliable conclusions is complicated by a variety of factors - the fitness and health of the horse, jockeyship, draw, pace, luck in running, performance of the opposition and many more. It is like working out a jigsaw puzzle only having some of the pieces.

The starting point to understanding a horses performances is measuring what it actually achieved. It is an imprecise art. However the more accurate the measurements the more accurate the conclusions drawn from them are likely to be. That is what this table is about.
It is an aid to reaching conclusions about the optimum racing conditions for Pinpoint.

Conclusions

From his performances so far it is possible to conclude that Pinpoint is best suited by :-

(1) 8 to 10 furlongs (limited evidence 7f)
(2) A strong pace
(3) A straight track (because that encourages an end to end gallop)
(4) Good/Firm to Good/Soft going (limited evidence Soft)
(5) Big field handicaps.

Evidence so far suggests that he will not necessarily be suited by further than 10f, and may improve for dropping back to 9f. However the 12f races are probably weaker if CRF is a reliable guide.

Studying the table you can reach different conclusions depending on which ratings provider you use. Despite it’s qualitative limitations Computer Racing Form can be taken as the most accurate representation of form for older handicappers. One of the main weaknesses of manual ratings, as practised by the Racing Post / Raceform and Timeform is that once a rating is given there is limited or no adjustment made when later form shows the rating to be too high or too low. All CRF ratings are continuously adjusted by computer programme as new form appears, on “best-fit” principles. The computer has no prejudices built in. Manual handicappers have a tendency to rate handicap form on the basis of best fit, but Group, Listed and Conditions race form on their best interpretation of it. Even avoiding this sort problem, subsequent events show the manual handicapper gets the rating of a proportion of races well wide of the mark. The Suffolk Stakes is a case in point, where the form looked stronger at the time than subsequent events have shown it to be. Racing people tend to accept the rating and look for reasons why the horse is no longer running to that level. More often the truth is that the horse was never that good in the first place. So the table should be interpreted with these things in mind.

The Computer Racing Form ratings are updated each week.