Punching Admiral Rous

A bit of history

Admiral Henry Rous was an 19th Century Naval Officer. The minutae of his naval career I will leave to the completists and Wikipedia. The vital legacy of Rous' life was his introduction of the 'Weight-For-Age' (WFA) scale to British racing, which has remained largely untouched for over 100 years.

The basic idea of WFA is to even out racehorses (theoretical) performances by allocating them different weights to carry based on their age. Put simply, younger horses in the early part of a racing season, will carry less weight than older horses. This discrepancy will be less marked as the season progresses and as horses mature. Rous experimented with weights until he arrived at a relationship between age and maturity, expressed in terms of weight. His original scale has undergone only minor alterations since his work in the 1860s.

Riveting so far - it will get lighter soon, so 'bear with....'

THE WFA scale is the basis of a handicap that, theoretically, should ensure that horses ability are evened out in a race. WFA in its purest form is used predomionantly in major (Group) races throughout the world, where horses of different ages race against each other.

Such races are, by definition, the cream of the racing calendar. For 95% (at a guess) of the rest of the horsey world, they are going to be competing in 'Handicap' Races, where not only WFA rules the roost in terms of attempting to even out ability, but also a weight allocated to them by the official handicapper, appointed by the Jockey Club (for racing in the UK).

The basics of handicap racing is this - the better a horse, the more weight it has to carry in a race. The goal of the Official Handicapper is to have every handicap race finish in a dead-heat (i.e proving that he has bought together exactly, the ability of every horse in said race).

...and the goal of every trainer, owner, stable boy and jockey is to try to hoodwink, hide (uner a lead-lined bushel in some cases) and generally muck up the handicappers ability to rate a horse accurately, until the glorious day when Dobbin metamorphs into Pegasus and wins not only the prize money in the race (ludicrously small, but no one is forcing anyone to become a racehorse owner) but also land a right good punt for all the connections.

...and it's the goal of this blog to decipher the bullshit and the skullduggery, the flannel and the blather and make money out of betting in UK handicap races!

Why Handicap Races?

Because at heart I want it all or die trying. I want to walk out of a race either potless or (metaphorically) lighting a Havana with tenners. Nickel and Diming a couple of quid profit backing odds-on favourites appeals to me about as much as playing naked leapfrog with a Unicorn.

Handicap racing is, by definition, close fought and competitive. Extrapolate this to the betting market and it means that the punter will generally have the opportunity to back horses at bigger odds than in straightforward WFA Conditions races. Whilst I will wax lyrical about One Man's Champion Chase, or Persian Punch's last Jockey Club Cup or Frankels astonishing 2000 Guineas, these races stirred the soul - and I didn't have a penny on any of the winners or other protagonists!

I spent the evenings beforehand in several hours of form study on The Coral Cup, The Cesarewitch or The Suffolk Handicap. Why? Because everyone (especially clued-up punters) knows everything about the big races and the betting market reflects this.

But for somone prepared to delve around in the form of the handicaps, he might just come up with an angle that will put him onto a double-figure priced winner, that means he leaves the course with severel hundred quid in his pocket, a glow of satisfaction that he's sorted out a most complex of puzzles.....and has given Admiral Rous a punch in the kisser!

The Blog

Enough self-aggrandising old pony and trap - the practicalities.

I will attempt to publish my thoughts on the big Saturday Handicap races by 10.00 hrs on A Saturday morning. I will also attempt to do the same for big midweek handicap races at the festivals dotted throughout the year.

The key word is 'attempt'. I've got a family and a business to run. I get tired. I go out. I get ill.

But when I commit myself to print, it will be honest opinions and they will be the result of diligent research for up to several hours. Why? Because I cannot bear to be slapdash when it comes to punting.

Also, as I'm a mouthy gobshite, musical snob, lover of a good argument, there will be postings on any other area of life I fancy taking a tilt at. Feel free to have a go back. I'll never criticise anyone's right to an opinion, just the quality of thought behind it.

Okay me breddrin - here we go.....