Thoughts on Rothay Park
We saddle one runner this evening, Rothay Park lines up in the 6.30pm contest at Chelmsford. Daniel Muscutt will be in the saddle.
Rothay Park got caught in the last stride last time out, although he did have the run of the race. Having gone so close in a maiden he now finds himself slightly in no mans land. He is on a mark that he would need a bit of improvement from and is always going to be vulnerable to a classier horse in maiden company. This looked an open sort of maiden so we’ve stuck to that category for now.

The interesting horse here is Scarborough Warning for whom this step up in trip looks ideal. Different Breed sets a standard for some consistent form although not entirely sure that the drop back in trip is necessarily a plus.
Rothay Park runs for owners Gary and Lesley Middlebrook and will be led up by Arla Cheshire.
An Aside on the flaws of the handicap system
Rothay Park’s predicament does highlight the flaw of the handicap system for a horse of this level. He would be better of having running poorly and therefore being able to run in lower grade handicaps. Essentially being cheated with, which is not good for the sport. The system is far too simple to exploit. It’s all very well it being the modus operandi for certain yards, but this is a sport reliant on betting for its funding. The current system means that the punter isn’t able to assess form on merit and is often guessing. It is also frustrating for owners when the ability of a horse to win races is reliant on the somewhat arbitary decision of a handicapper, rather than a horses merit. For example there are 65 rated horses that have won more than 80 rated ones, that doesn’t seem right, the one being a well above average horse the latter being just below. In what other sport do less able competitors win more often?