Tomlinson Ratings for Derby Contenders

[prudery]

Originally Posted by Cajungator26

While I agree with you, the middle number is considered the 'classic' category. Wasn't the old rule of thumb that the horse should have more points in that middle category or to the right of it rather than more points to the left? I don't know, I've always paid more attention to that middle number in regards to the Kentucky Derby. Having points in the Solid and Professional categories certainly helps, but I wouldn't toss out a horse if they didn't have that. Jazil, for example, didn't have any points in the Solid or Professional categories, but he won the 12 furlong Belmont. *Shrugs.*

The most important thing about the middle number/classic aptitude was not necessarily only the most points in the middle, but the balance of speed and stamina that weighted the equation to the middle ... Ideally the dosage profile had a blend or a concentration that did this, but even more ideal was the " heart shaped " profile that had a balance of chef-de-races in the catagories from speed to stamina ...
A heart shaped profile might look like this :
1-2-4-2-1 , or like this : 0-3-1-3-0 , and so on ...
Today few horses have anything in the solid category, and fewer in the professional--the last two longer aptitudes after classic , because fewer longer races are carded and the sires can not be chef-de -race if no one runs de race ...