"One of the most fascinating developments of the postmodern handicapping art has been the use of figure patterns to predict improving and declining form. While speed figures are well known to correlate positively with ability, or class, certain patterns of speed figures can serve as reliable instruments of form analysis. Perhaps the most reliable and useful of these are the paired-figure patterns. That is, a horse has delivered essentially the same performance twice in a row. What should happen next?" (6/30/08)

"As far as winning goes, beating the clock is ultimately not the point. All that matters is coming in first."

“Rachel was clearly not ready to run.... Yet there’s no reason she can’t return to where she was last year. She just rounded into shape too slowly for this race. I think if they meet it will be in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), but if someone wants to offer $5-million before then Rachel could be ready for a top effort in June after she gets in one more race.”