We never claimed to be able to see through the smoke and mirrors integral to the handicapper's tasks, but one of the benefits of those odd five-pound rating allowances for northern hemisphere three-year-olds has been to show clearly where they do actually fit into the scheme of things.
It was a positive last weekend for the handicappers, who are being lampooned on the other hand for another matter we will get to later.
Last Saturday, we had former British juveniles Shanghai Pioneer and Horse Galore making themselves competitive and holding turnover after just one and two starts respectively, instead of the usual, drawn out trickle down the ratings at 99-1 in 'unsuitable races', because these two were eligible to run in Class Four off their 65 rating, less the allowance.
Over the years, the handicapping department at Sports Road has sucked rather than bitten the reality bullet and slowly downgraded the assessments of two-year-old form in Britain, Ireland and Europe.
(It's only five years ago that a horse called Aberdeen managed to start with a 75 rating off a career-best two-year-old maiden second placing. And he came in as a 90-plus replacement. That is, his international rating from the UK was supposed to have been 90, or more, before being reassessed on arrival. At 75.)
Things have improved, though not far enough as far as we can see for the races carrying some questionable black type status.
It isn't that long ago Lucky Amici arrived with a Listed juvenile win at Tipperary, for instance, plus two other minor wins and a black type third in France to earn a Hong Kong domestic rating of 90 that left him high and very dry. He's down to 45 tonight at the Valley and probably will become competitive sometime in something, but it has taken him 13 starts to get to 45 and he isn't getting any younger.