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

[jack1092]

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?

[mayo]

Losing credibility now is Phil. Melon WTF?

[jack1092]

Losing credibility now is Phil. Melon WTF?

Mental mark for Melon, the mans lost his marbles completely.

[MrMcGoldrick]

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

[Old Vic]

Experts ..we've had a enough of those

[Raffles]

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