Two questions:
The first of which is related to this one in Prufrock’s first post:
Why, in this age of instant communication, is there so much lag between a horse running and being awarded a new mark? What reason is there for updates not being almost immediate?
1) Venetia Williams, for one, is adept at getting wins from her handicappers on Sundays, meaning she then has the best part of two weeks to run them under a penalty or, not infrequently, a succession of penalties. Admittedly these penalty carriers can be a boon to the punter and do add a little intrigue to races, but surely such a long wait until being required to race off a revised OR cannot be justified nowadays, unless one rationalises it by invoking the phrase ‘it’s the way it’s always been done’
2) The current system of awarding an OR (handicap mark) after a maximum of three runs is open to abuse, be that ‘wrong tripping’, ‘considerate rides’ or by whatever other means connections have of hiding a horse’s true ability from you and the public
Would you favour a system (as I do) that demands a horse wins before being permitted an OR, however many runs that may take; and furthermore that win should be in this country.
Thanks