When I refer To Presenting Percy rating 168 that is my figure as a novice .My projected figure if he progresses to reach his potential as a mature chaser would be 175 . I have Monalee on a projected future rating of 167 accounting for his improvement when stepping up from the Flogas distance and the nature of his win making all .
No disrespect to your rating system, but rating novice chasers is notoriously difficult as you have the hurdle rating (when some have competed at graded level and some have always been aimed at chasing, so never highly tried as hurdlers) to factor in to a certain extent.
And then there's the Open company aspect.
If you rated PP on his runs as a Novice chaser at that level (beginners and novice chases) he would be nowhere near.
Therefore you are left with his last run and his win in a handicap, neither at the RSA trip or likely ground.
I agree that on his last run he deserves an upgrade, but he essentially got beat (getting weight) by a similar horse (who won a handicap in his novice season, but also a grade one novice) but has been well beaten in open company twice this season (with excuses) prior to the last race. Now he himself is being talked up after beating a novice.
In short I would compare rating a novice so highly in this example, is similar to when low rated horses run well in graded races and get hammered by the handicapper. (Speredek springs to mind as one recent example).
Therefore PP rating, using whichever or whoever's rating system should be treated with caution for now.
Having said all that he may well prove how good he is, and so could Our Duke for that matter.
He might have beaten them over his optimum trip for all we know at the moment... that is probably why they're the same price.
