This looked a hot renewal of this three-year-old sprint handicap, and one which was taken in fine style by Smookh who returned to form after flopping in the Britannia at Ascot which subsequently looks a hot renewal (John Dunlop has since reported he was a non-stayer in that event). Dropped back to 6f Shmookh blasted home up the stands rail to hold off Off The Record, another improving sort by a neck. It also provided somewhat of a distinct draw bias after plenty of questioning via various journalists and faces at Newmarket questioning where the horses will be going for the faster strip of ground, evidently it was proved a high draw was the place to be. Based on the first ten home, only one horse was drawn low, and ran over on the far side. That was of course Mastership who was somewhat the most unluckiest horse in the race. Always travelling well, he kicked into a comfortable lead at the two furlong pole but to the dismay of myself among a few other people I know of who backed him, he had no chance against such a bias favouring the high numbers. The bias reminded me of Ascot, and I’m going to try and do something new by following a method used by a respected judge who uses this forum. I’m going to add two lengths to horses drawn low (Mastership) and take off two lengths from those drawn high. This would leave the finishing order looking like this. 1st Smookh {1st} 2nd Off The Record {2nd} 3rd Utmost Respect {3rd} 4th Mastership {7th] Now I’m going to use a system of projecting vaguely how much the top seven horses potentially have in hand based on a simple calculation. The first figure is the time-based figure posted by the horse (100 = the 3yo 105 Class Par, so anything over that is the distance it’s beaten it by). The second figure is the horses OR, and the third is the difference between the two and the one used to rank them. Shmookh 104.88 – 89 = +15.88 Off The Record 104.17 – 89 = +15.71 Utmost Respect 103.71 – 90 = +13.71 Vitznau 100.71 – 90 = +10.71 Celtic Sultan 102.46 – 95 = +7.46 Siren’s Gift 101.96 – 95 = +6.96 Mastership 103.46 – 100 = +3.46 This race was last year won by Dark Missile in similar sort of conditions but a second slower in time. Dark Missile has since improved to win this year’s Wokingham Handicap at Royal Ascot, plenty of winners have come out of last years race and I seriously believe this form is worth following for the remainder of the year as it looks pretty damn strong and Smookh got within half a second of Stravinsky’s track record. This Article was written by The Duke for http://www.ohracing.net on 14/07/07 Link to article: http://www.ohracing.net/forum/speed-ratings/20924-totesport-stakes-form-follow.html