| If I were to tell you that the Beyer Speed | | | | When will this madness end? |
| Ratings published in the Daily Racing Form are | | | | Has the Beyer Speed Rating system been |
| worthless, what would you say? At one time, I | | | | adjusted to take into account the various |
| would have said, "Man, you're crazy! The Beyer | | | | restrictions now attached to many claiming races? |
| numbers are a gift from God!" Not any more. | | | | For example, how do they handle the data for |
| I first read Andrew Beyer's book, "Picking | | | | this horse? In its next to last start it won a |
| Winners: A Horseplayer's Guide," in the mid-1970s. | | | | $10,000 claiming race for non-winners of two |
| I, like many other handicappers, became | | | | races lifetime [Clm 10000n2l]. In its last start it |
| convinced that Beyer had discovered the Holy | | | | won a $16,000 claiming race with no restrictions |
| Grail of horse racing. | | | | attached [Clm 16000]. |
| I remember spending hours creating my own par | | | | Do they have a seperate category for $10,000n2l |
| times. I remember creating my own speed | | | | or do they lump all $10,000 claiming races |
| ratings based on those par times. I remember | | | | together? What do they do if the race at the |
| adjusting speed ratings based on the "daily track | | | | $16,000 level was run in a slower time than the |
| variance" for any given day. In reality, it didn't | | | | race at the $10,000 level? Was the race for a |
| improve my handicapping all that much. | | | | $16,000 tag made up of horses that have never |
| In the thirty years that have passed, I have | | | | won a $16,000 claiming race? Did it include |
| gotten older and wiser. I can now state without | | | | horses that have won at higher levels? |
| hesitation that adjusting race times based on | | | | If you took all those things into consideration (and |
| some mythical track variance is just plain ludicrous. | | | | I'm sure there are more things to consider), by |
| The Beyer Speed Ratings are supposed to be | | | | the time you worked up an accurate set of par |
| interchangable from one track to another. They | | | | times for just one track, you might still find them |
| are supposed to be based on par times for every | | | | worthless. |
| distance and class level at every track in the | | | | I have found that a horse that is fit and ready to |
| country. However, they are such an unreliable | | | | run will usually run a race in a raw time that is |
| guide to predicting the outcome of future races | | | | within 3/5 of a second of its best raw time at |
| that some handicappers have developed methods | | | | any given distance. The horse will do that while |
| of adjusting the Beyer number to arrive at yet | | | | racing at different tracks. That is especially true |
| another number that is supposed to be better | | | | of sprinters. |
| than the Beyer number. | | | | |