There is no doubt that in his attempt to improve his figures with projection times and split variants that Beyer has added much more subjectivity to his numbers. IMO, an attempt to make it better, often makes it more difficult to use a figure at face value. I do think his figures are useful and relevant to the modern game, even if their value is zero (or negative) from a parimutuel perspective.
To answer Joey's question. I highly recommend some of Beyer's books starting with Picking Winners. Though he changed some of the methodology, the basics of figure making are discussed, and at least you start to understand the value of what they mean in terms of beaten lengths, class pars, etc. If nothing else, they're pretty entertaining and easy to read.
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Do I think Charity can win? Well, I am walking around in yesterday's suit.
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