The Ace

"No, no, stop. Too much information!" How often have we heard that said nowadays when a friend is imparting to us too many lurid details of some intimate, personal relationship! That current phrase 'Too much information' sticks in my mind also when considering, not just systems, but also the whole process of trying to select winners. At times it seems we really do have too much information at our disposal. But then again, can we ever have too much? Does success lie in considering all the possibilities available to us? 1 honestly don't know the answer, if there is one. I'm sure many of us are aware, however, of the Brimardon service, widely advertised, and costing as I write, about two and a half grand for six months' selections. It certainly seems to come up with the results, achieving a profit of 554 points in 2002. I'm not a subscriber myself, but I understand that these figures are genuine and proofed to the Racing Post. And I further gather from their advertising material that they consider thousands of positive and negative values in every race evalued. Yes, thousands. Obviously, it is all done by computer but it puts the manual efforts of mere mortals (like myself) in some kind of perspective. Do we need to evaluate thousands of factors in every race to find the winner? Are we wasting our time (and money) if we are unable to do so? I am simply posing the questions, not answering them. One thing I will say about Brimardon is this. They have been in operation since 1985, and I would make an educated guess that the founders then were three guys named Brian,

Martin and Donald!

Before leaving this interesting subject of Brimardon - of course it is interesting if it makes 554 points of profit in a year - I'd like to make a suggestion. I can remember in the years since 1985 seeing the Brimardon software programme which supplies their winners being offered for sale in computer magazines and the national press. If such an offer is still available from any member I'd be interested to have it, and perhaps conduct a trial to let you all know how the results are going. Too much information? With 554 points profit, I think maybe not!

I was sitting at a cremation service the other day having a quiet laugh to myself. Now, before you accuse me of gross insensitivity, let me explain. I couldn't help but remember as I sat there a cremation joke I'd heard just some days earlier. But before I tell it may I mention a great novel that I read some time ago by the Scottish author lan Banks, and it is called The Crow Road. In the opening chapter the hero's grandmother is being cremated when there is an almighty explosion. It turns out that she was fitted with a pace-maker which hadn't been removed and that is what caused the blast in the furnace. The story continues beautifully after that explosive start. Back to our joke. The cremation is taking place of a famous and flamboyant heart surgeon. He had left instructions that the gates through which the coffin would disappear into the furnace should be decorated with flowers in the shape of a heart (as befitted his profession), and it is at this point in the service that our joke begins. The heart-shaped floral doors had just parted when a mourner began to laugh quite audibly. His neighbour turned to him angrily and suggested that he show more respect. The laughing mourner said, "I can't help it. You see, I'm just considering what could happen at my own cremation when it comes." "And why on earth should your cremation cause you such amusement?" asked the neighbour.

Remember last month we had the horse's name telling the World War Two story of the Dambusters. We've another story this time; not a specific one, more a general type - the western. Like most other young lads of my generation I was an avid reader of westerns, and looking back now I realize that they were all basically the same story. The hero would be a tall, tough, slow-spoken cowboy and probably called Tex or Hank. The villains were the Indians — cunning, ruthless and addicted to scalps and firewater.

Furthermore, they always had to be defeated and Tex or Hank always won. Even more satisfying, Tex or Hank invariably also won the hand and heart of the beautiful Lois or Consuela. Simple stuff, I know, but how we enjoyed it then.

Memories of that kind of story all came back to me when I saw this horse's name. It is Ambushed by Indian Ridge out of Surprise Move. One final horse's name for this month, not a story, more a witty and accurate comment on modem life. Cash 'N’ Credit is the horse and it is by Homo Sapien out of Not Enough. That's us, all right! On to our classic system for August. It is called (not very originally) The Ace System. At a rough count, it evaluates about ten factors in each race which, I suppose, is manageable if not exhaustive. It can't compare with the thousands of positive and negative values mentioned earlier, but nonetheless, maybe The Ace will come up trumps. Finally, next month marks our second anniversary of contributions, so before then I'll dig deep to try and unearth something a bit special. I might also try out my new rating system mentioned last month.

THE ACE SYSTEM

1. USE RACING POST

2. USE MAIN MEETING ONLY (centre pages)

3. CLEAR TOP RATED POSTMARK AND CLEAR TOP RATED TOPSPEED

4. SELECTION MUST BE RIDDEN BY A JOCKEY WHO IS IN THE TOP 10 OF THE JOCKEY TABLES (for the first month of any season use last seasons tables)

5. LAST TIME OUT SELECTION MUST NOT HAVE BEEN 10/1 OR MORE.

6. LAST TIME OUT SELECTION MUST NOT HAVE BEEN BEATEN MORE THAN THREE LENGTHS FLAT, OR FIVE LENGTHS N H.

7. IN HANDICAP RACES THE SELECTIONS HANDICAP MARK MUST BE NO MORE THAN 7LBS HIGHER THAN A MARK IT HAS ALREADY WON OFF. ALTERNATIVELY IT SHOULD BE RUNNING FROM A MARK NO HIGHER THAN IT HAS BEEN PLACED FROM IN ANY ONE OF ITS LAST FOUR RACES.

8. IN NON HANDICAP RACES A SELECTION MUST HAVE RUN IN MORE VALUABLE RACE THAN TODAY'S RACE LAST TIME OUT.

9. SELECTION MUST BE FORECAST IN FIRST THREE IN RACING POST BETTING FORECAST IN RACES WITH TWELVE OR LESS RUNNERS, OR FIRST FOUR IN BETTING IN RACES WITH 13 OR MORE RUNNERS

10. SELECTION MUST BE ABLE TO HANDLE GOING. A SELECTIONS ABILITY TO HANDLE GOING WILL BE DETERMINED BY REFERRING TO THE POSTDATA BOX AND MAKING SURE THE SELECTION HAS A TICK UNDER GOING.

11. IGNORE ANY RACE WHERE A ODDS,FAVOURITE IS FORECAST.

HANDICAP MARKS

By referring to the form pages where the information is supplied for a selections last two or three runs you will find details of all races a possible selection has won. Any win in a handicap will be listed and also the handicap mark the selection won off. For each race you will find a ratings table which indicates the handicap mark the horse is running off today. In these rating tables, to the left of the selections name you will find details of the horses last few races, the mark it ran off and if it was placed off that mark.