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Article: Mark Johnston in the Post on Friday: Rated stakes the solution to failing handicap system; Rated stakes the solution to failing handicap system.(Sports)
- Article from:
- The Racing Post (London, England)
- Article date:
- May 24, 2002
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 MGN LTD. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Mark Johnston
Size, as David Ashforth so aptly pointed out to us last weekend, does matter. He is absolutely right. But if he thinks that the bookmakers, under their new `pay per race' picture deal with the racecourses, are going to bring about a reform of the system that has led to the absurd variation in field sizes that we currently endure, then he is very much mistaken.
Quite the contrary. It is the handicap system which results in excessively large fields in many handicaps and small fields in most other kinds of race. The bookmakers like that ...