I go back a pretty long way with the sheets, also known as the Rags or Ragozins. Today I use Thoro-Graph. Of all the speed figures I find they give you the best chance of finding an edge. I’ll get into that a bit later. We are just about all familiar with Beyer figures. Today there are an array of speed and pace figures to choose from. In addition to the ones I mentioned above you have Timeform, Brisnet and some others providing figures.

One of the biggest mistakes handicappers make is thinking any figure is a substitute for handicapping the race. They are a tool. Not a short cut or substitute for doing your homework. Bruno De Julio of @racingwithbruno offers his Delta Figs, which contrary to all the other figures out there, attempt to gauge the figure the horse will run on race day wherein others assign their numbers to past races.

To see how I was introduced to the Sheets and how long I go back with them you might want to read this:

If You Like That Horse Don’t Bet the Race:

https://www.pastthewire.com/if-you-like-that-horse-dont-bet-the-race/

Obviously, I have a pretty long history with sheets and figures. I also make my own figures I call 10 figs. The game has changed since I first started using the sheets. Accordingly, I have adapted the way I use them. In the past my focus was finding a horse who was sure to peak, and that peak would make them faster than anyone else in the race. I also looked for horses who were going to bounce or regress off an unusually fast or taxing effort. Today I find most of the time the fastest horse is either easily identifiable thus over bet, or most of the field is too close to separate based on figures alone. This leaves me looking for horses who are simply put too slow to win thus easy eliminations. An important factor here is to remember these identifications are based more on patterns in conjunction with the past performances than the isolated number.

Another common mistake people make when reading and interpreting sheets is thinking the number stands alone and they do not factor in all the other conditions. If you factor the past performances and conditions into your analysis of the number and subsequently the pattern than you are reading the sheets in the correct manner, at least as far as I am concerned. You still have to know how to read them, but at least your technique is correct.

The oldest of the figures and perhaps the most well-known are Beyer figures, which for many years now have appeared in the Daily Racing Form. They, like most of the other figures out there, are what I call a raw speed figure. They are based primarily on the time of the race and how fast the horse ran. They take into consideration the other times that day. I have always felt that is a flawed system. Set aside all the changing of Beyer figures after they are assigned, the system in and of itself is out dated. To get an accurate account of how fast a horse ran all you need to do is study the past performances and charts. You do not need a figure to tell you that. The flaw is a Beyer number does not account for the trip, or how wide thus how much ground a horse covered or lost. This is crucial to know when determining who ran faster based on a number.

To understand this concept and how important it is, and why without it any figure can be misleading, all you have to do is race someone slower than you around the track and give them a few inside lane advantage. The gap of how much faster you are will shrink with each lane they have inside of where you are running, riding, driving or whatever. The shortest way to the wire is on the rail, and if on the rail you can run a little slower than a horse on the outside and beat them. The Sheets and Thoro-Graph reflect this and take this and other information into account when assigning a number. This is crucial. You will never see a horse who finished second or third get a better raw speed figure than the winner but with Thoro-Graph or The Sheets you will.

I have come to prefer Thoro-Graph. I find they have advanced with the changing of the game more so than any of the other figures out there, with the exception of Delta Figs which are a different animal altogether. I usually find horses who are too slow to win, thus can be tossed from the top slot in both horizontal and vertical wagers. That is an edge, as often these horses cannot be tossed based on a raw speed figure. I’ve found you will on occasion get beat by a faster horse or some intangible when looking for the fastest horse based on Thoro-Graph, but it is few and far between a horse that is too slow will beat you.

In summary I think Thoro-Graph or any speed figure based on trip and ground saved or lost is an important part of the arsenal. A raw speed figure tells me nothing I do not already know.

I go back a pretty long way with the sheets, also known as the Rags or Ragozins. Today I use Thoro-Graph. Of all the speed figures I find they give you the best chance of finding an edge. I’ll get into that a bit later. We are just about all familiar with Beyer figures. Today there are an array of speed and pace figures to choose from. In addition to the ones I mentioned above you have Timeform, Brisnet and some others providing figures.    One of the biggest mistakes handicappers make is thinking any figure is a substitute for handicapping the race. They are a tool. Not a short cut or substitute for doing your homework. Bruno De Julio of @racingwithbruno offers his Delta Figs, which contrary to all the other figures out there, attempt to gauge the figure the horse will run on race day wherein others assign their numbers to past races.    To see how I was introduced to the Sheets and how long I go back with them you might want to read this:

If You Like That Horse Don’t Bet the Race:   https://www.pastthewire.com/if-you-like-that-horse-dont-bet-the-race/   Obviously, I have a pretty long history with sheets and figures. I also make my own figures I call 10 figs. The game has changed since I first started using the sheets. Accordingly, I have adapted the way I use them. In the past my focus was finding a horse who was sure to peak, and that peak would make them faster than anyone else in the race. I also looked for horses who were going to bounce or regress off an unusually fast or taxing effort. Today I find most of the time the fastest horse is either easily identifiable thus over bet, or most of the field is too close to separate based on figures alone. This leaves me looking for horses who are simply put too slow to win thus easy eliminations.

An important factor here is to remember these identifications are based more on patterns in conjunction with the past performances than the isolated number.    Another common mistake people make when reading and interpreting sheets is thinking the number stands alone and they do not factor in all the other conditions. If you factor the past performances and conditions into your analysis of the number and subsequently the pattern than you are reading the sheets in the correct manner, at least as far as I am concerned. You still have to know how to read them, but at least your technique is correct.

The oldest of the figures and perhaps the most well-known are Beyer figures, which for many years now have appeared in the Daily Racing Form. They, like most of the other figures out there, are what I call a raw speed figure. They are based primarily on the time of the race and how fast the horse ran. They take into consideration the other times that day. I have always felt that is a flawed system. Set aside all the changing of Beyer figures after they are assigned, the system in and of itself is out dated. To get an accurate account of how fast a horse ran all you need to do is study the past performances and charts. You do not need a figure to tell you that. The flaw is a Beyer number does not account for the trip, or how wide thus how much ground a horse covered or lost. This is crucial to know when determining who ran faster based on a number.

To understand this concept and how important it is, and why without it any figure can be misleading, all you have to do is race someone slower than you around the track and give them a few inside lane advantage. The gap of how much faster you are will shrink with each lane they have inside of where you are running, riding, driving or whatever. The shortest way to the wire is on the rail, and if on the rail you can run a little slower than a horse on the outside and beat them. The Sheets and Thoro-Graph reflect this and take this and other information into account when assigning a number. This is crucial. You will never see a horse who finished second or third get a better raw speed figure than the winner but with Thoro-Graph or The Sheets you will.    I have come to prefer Thoro-Graph. I find they have advanced with the changing of the game more so than any of the other figures out there, with the exception of Delta Figs which are a different animal altogether. I usually find horses who are too slow to win, thus can be tossed from the top slot in both horizontal and vertical wagers.

That is an edge, as often these horses cannot be tossed based on a raw speed figure. I’ve found you will on occasion get beat by a faster horse or some intangible when looking for the fastest horse based on Thoro-Graph, but it is few and far between a horse that is too slow will beat you.    In summary I think Thoro-Graph or any speed figure based on trip and ground saved or lost is an important part of the arsenal. A raw speed figure tells me nothing I do not already know.