Beyer revisions

Andy Beyer has announced that speed figures for synthetic tracks are being revised because they seem to be off when compared to dirt tracks. Wonderful news for all those people who rely on Beyer figures to help with their handicapping. Maybe this will make people realize that there is no point in relying on speed figures as a handicapping method, especially when there is a change of surface involved. That is why I am more convinced than ever that every race is a separate handicapping puzzle. Each race is as a famous handicapper once said, "one horse gets the lead in  the race. If he does not get caught he wins and if he gets caught he loses." Handicapping is more complicated than just looking at one final speed number. It is important to look at how that number is obtained. And that is a problem with horse racing. With the dumbdown of America and its increasing laziness, it is much more preferable to be a slot machine zombie than to  spend the time to analyze the dynamics of the pace of a race.