two winners this week and now only two away from hemz looks like to could go to the final week

It was great to see SB finish on a high this week winning the Scottish Champion Hurdle did so well to win it too must of been at blocked in about 4 times i will miss seeing her race but ill just have to try and find a new superstar to go for a Champion Hurdle double

Good win by Chabal too didnt jump well at all but still had enough class to win


well done to eveyone with winners and placers

roll on next week cant wait

Really delighted with Scottish GN win for Wings Of A Dove. Looked to have blown her chance when making a massive blunder 5 out when just getting into the race. Recovered really well but even jumping the last I was sure the mistake had cost her the race. Next to the Gold Cup it was the highlight of the season for me so far..

Commentaries excellent as usual!

Well done to all the winners.

Padraig

Rich can you check the rating of my horse Joe Hart up 21lb for his 5th place finish but others that finished better went up alot less cant be right

no way joe hart should of gone up so much

david Bahmaian Dancer has won 1 race and is rated 154 - higher than Aliceva ! It is a joke - he won one handicap and came 2nd in two g3s and he is rated 154 , i cant understand it . I am certain handicappers are needed for nhc next season

in addition to that aliceva goes down 1lb for finishing way back in 11th - just looking at ratings i see so many ridiculous ones its unreal!!

It's not necessarily how much he has gone up by (I agree, 21lbs is a lot) it's being referenced against 130 rated chasers (beating them by 10L) and 150 rated chasers (only going down 2L giving 3lbs away). The winner has gone up 27lbs! What would you say is a fairer mark?

As for Aliceva, well it finished 9L down to 4 horses rated 120-125 giving away more than 2 stone. How can it be any less than 150???!?! It's a group horse running in handicaps.

Rich before anyone just does one and cause problems could l ask could we do a Vote thread asking if people would like a hcapper in NH and flat for next season and if anyone actually would like the job?? Rather than just waiting for next season to start if we do decide to have 1 give them time to be prepared?

I think everyone will probably agree that the NHC ratings need some work. But I just have to say its going to be a lot of work for the person who decides to do the ratings. I'm not sure someone would be willing to do it. If someone does thats great but if not I think some other solution is needed.

Maybe less hcp and more group's races or less races overall or like someone said in another thread (I can't remember who) have the handicaps in a range like (Hcp 120-140).

something im in favour of...limited H'caps then you get like with like and nothing runs in extremes...the Grnd H'caps are a version of this
Rich is going the right way he just needs to implement it more which means a complete overhaul of the Schedules

I'm not against a handicapper for NH, I think it would be a great idea.

What I am not convinced about is the time involved and also the ability of the handicapper to make things fairer than they currently are. Although I am not saying the current system is 100% fair.

Until the direction of handicaps has been taken for next season, and there are a few options on the table, I don't think the role can be properly defined.

I'll put a challenge up on the forums to handicap Race 10 this week, see who can handicap the race the best and compare it to the real race.

Fantastic idea

when i was looking at directions which could be taken to improve next seasons nhc i found that there were at least 4 people willing to do the handicapping for the nhc - one for short hurdles, one for stayer hurdles, one for short chase, and one for staying chase.

i do appreciate all of richs concerns about it and agree it would need to be assessed and done fairly!!!

i also emphasise pretty much every week that i think rich has done a great job and i think the sopl will be even better next season - im never criticising what he does im just trying to help make it better. my participation as a trainer next season is still hugley in doubt but i want to help make it as good as it can possibly be anyway!!

1 thing l will add is l dont totally think what happens is wrong, in real life its very very hard for a horse with top weight to win a big hcap unless it is a great horse i.e Denman. This is not the point lm trying to make l think that side of it is correct the point lm making is horses actually getting that mark in the first place. If my horse is running with top weight cus he has finshed 2nd in a good maiden is just crazy when a horse who has won a group race however weak or poor that group race was should still carry more imo. Horses like Aliceva l agree finishing 9 lengths off low rated horses shouldnt have massive weight drop and actually thing that rating was ok 1 ilb lower. I feel hcapper is needed to take into account all runs and dont forget this horse came 3rd in GN with top weight giving lumps away so rating again imo is correct. Its just some horses that have a decent first run just seem to get hammered hard and TOM seems to like putting marks up but not neccesarily drops them fairly. I defo dont think 0-1** hcaps should be scrapped as this still gives smaller lesser trainers a good chance of winning and if hcap system is done correctly then its down to trainers to manage there stable and potential marks correctly by placing them in better races. I agree that l entered my horse in a Grade 3 finished 2nd then moaned a little, but looking back thats my fault for going straight to graded race but must admit was a late comer and options was limited

but horses like Alphabet Soup and Aliceva , Bahamian Dancer sky rocketed in the ratings off 1 or 2 decent maiden , handicap runs!!

Bahamaian Dancer is rated 154 - for what?? ive looked thru his form and cant work it out!!! Hes won one average race and come 2nd in two g3s!