along with what you said I am wondering about "concentration". and if/how that interacts with it. I have a mild issue with that. It is not always what it should be. I am 83

Maybe I should also add--mark cramer once asked his readers if any of us know anyone who handicaps horses on a regular basis (not necessarily every day but regularly) who has ever been diagnosed with some kind of dementia. I have also asked the same question of OTB people and others- I don't know of any and Mark never printed of any that did. If he did I am not aware of them.

kinkier handicapping by mark cramer. 1996 11 chapters. interviews a variety of handicapping individuals from chess masters (edgar polania) and people from other walks of life who handicap the ponies. for example: edgar looks for something different-anything-like layoffs or some kind of pattern match from a winning effort.. If nothing different he assumes that he will not outhandicap the public and goes on to the next race. If something is different he checks the trainer patterns. Edgar says: (page 57) I don't follow the same rules every day. The rule is that there are no rules. If I'm bound by rules I can't be creative.

for better or worse I just wanted to pass along attendance figs-mostly for younger .
1962 NY yankee attendance per game was 18,000+ (1 year after maris hit 61 dingers)
Aqu on track daily attendance was 30,000+
Holywood park 31,000+

2024 NY yankees 41,000+
Aqu 4,000+
Hollywood closed

not sure if this post is appropriate or not--I view it as a "factor"

the movie Seabiscuit gives class example prior to buying. He (seabiscuit) was content to be alone and he didn't put up with any BS. Lookin em in the eye is overrated-you can't "look em in the eye if your not in condition

i'm new at this kind of handicapping but---in the short time that I have with it I'm finding that the lower a horse's SR is (less than strength) and the higher his EPS is (within the top 4 of EPS) the more likely he will outrun his odds. (Improving horse). The reverse is also true: the higher a horse's SR is (within strength) and the lower his EPS signals an improving horse. (lots of people handicap BSR #'s)This past Preakness won by jornalism-the 9 horse(Gosger) had a horsestreet system BSR of 87 which was lower than all the others excepting #4 and 5) but he had an EPS that was ranked 3rd. He ran 2nd in a close finish. (just an example that it exists) note: I use BSR because I handicap from the DRF. I haven't done nearly enough handicapping like this yet to make a determination on this but I'll keep an eye on it. It's not an ultra rare occurance. From a value perspective- condition outperforms class