Queens Plate- merit ratings

Congratulations to Hassan Adams, Snaith racing and Piere Strydom for winning a great race.
The next 3 were gallant in defeat, and it could be argued that Variety Club and Bravura had to work to overcome their draws, and if Tales of Bravery had been a little handier from a favourable draw he may have gone closer.
Gibraltar Blue ensured a true pace, which is a requirement for applying handicapping principles.
The handicapper must now admit he made an error in assessing MRs from the Guineas. Bravura and Tales are consistent 111-112 performers. That makes VC a 114 on this run and Gimethgreenlight a 115 at most.

that is the most contradictory statement i have heard...you say the handicapper made a mistake assesing the guineas (implying the ratings were too high) yet gimmethegreenlight is now coming out 7 pounds higher(according to you)??

i personally think that variety club ran a bit below what he could have achieved in the queens plate..not just getting over from the draw as you said but the pace was strong(as u said) and VC was sitting right up there..gimmethegreenlight and tales of bravery came from quite a way back..

Things didn't map out for Variety Club in the Queen's Plate like they did in the Guineas. He found himself in front quite a long way from home, into a headwind. Gimmethegreenlight confirmed he is better than his Guineas run and the two 3yos ran more or less to their Selangor Cup form, but it's too early to be dropping Variety Club's MR. Tales Of Bravery and Bravura make for good line horses, though, and they do suggest that Gimmethegreenlight ran to a 115 at most.

I was referring to the 118 for Variety Club in the Guineas, which was excessive. Gimmethegreenlight obviously ran below his previous form in the Guineas, and that run is best ignored for rating purposes. His Queens Plate run was well above even his best previous performance.
Note that the Guineas was run at a muddling, but relatively slow pace, and the horses that dropped out from bad draws were at a severe disadvantage.

I was asked before the Guineas what I nhad Princess Victoria rated at .The answer was 101 (but with an an acceptance that, as she was not being fully tested that may be a bit short)
However ,when I used her as a line horse in the guineas(Her consistency) I came out with VC at 115.
I am happy ,for the moment that it's about right,but I raised Gimmethegreenlight to 115 as well.

I still believe that,provincialy, the 3yr olds only compete on equal terms in Natal later,as Gauteng and WC horses don't really perform to their optimum in each others backyards, without lengthy acclimatisation................but they all seem to handle Natal.
Interesting to see how the 3yr olds will have stacked up against each other by season end!