• HELP US - Become a Patron - Fat Jockey is a horse racing community focused on all the big races in the UK and Ireland. We don't charge users but if you have found the site useful then any support towards the running costs is appreciated ... a small donation each month would be a huge contribution. Become a Patron!

Phil Smith- What side of the fence do you sit on and why?

jack1092

New member
Joined
Mar 1, 2017
Messages
4,304
Reaction score
294
Points
0
Location
Belfast
Website
twitter.com
http://www.attheraces.com/blogs/kevin-blake

Fantastic article by ATR's Kevin Blake on Phil Smith the GB handicapper.

First thing i would like to say, i would love Kevin to get a go at him on the ATR show...Matt doesn't have the knowledge like Kevin to argue the points well enough. Fair enough this will not happen ever!

I pretty much agree with the blog above, there is no doubt change is needed and the idea that Irish horses are still benefiting from the GB handicap system is wrong. How can he even state the percentages he does full well knowing that there are 1000s more GB runners than Irish?

Either Phil Smith should ask his bosses for the two extra staff to work on the IRE figures weekly or there needs to be new methods introduced. Phil Smith adds and subtracts when he sees fit- Pahaska 105 Ire, 118 GB. How does he come up with the figure based on the runs? Crafty Butcher dropped to make it unlikely to make it into Cheltenham?
 
Losing credibility now is Phil. Melon WTF?
 
He doesn't have the excuses of old, plenty of sectionals available to cross reference, maybe he just can't be bothered, people in unchallenged positions tend to get complacent
 
Experts ..we've had a enough of those :devilish:
 
Just to redress the balance slightly - for years Irish trainers have been disguising their charge's true ability in order to pull off a good touch on this side of the Irish sea.

Maybe this is just a touch of self preservation by Phil :)