Wednesday 11 May

The handicapper doesn't miss much! Kikos has been raised 4lbs for getting beaten a neck on Friday. We did say that if he had jumped the three in the home straight he would have won, but to be beaten and go up 4 is unbelievable. I was expecting to go up 2lbs to a mark of 117, but we are now up to 119, which will obviously make life tougher!Handicapping is a difficult job, but when you look at Kikos' form you will see that it took 6 runs and 5 months for his mark to slip back down to the sort of level he can win off, now, after 1 month, 2 runs, (a half length win and a quarter length defeat) we have gone up 8lbs and are only 1lb off of our highest winning mark. This will make life very tough for us once again, and is it any wonder that people will not come into racing as owners? It is hard enough to get winners as it is, but when you are faced with the expense of running for half a year to get to a mark that you can win off, just to go up for a narrow win and a defeat, the job seems to be impossible! As I say, I have no problem with going up for getting narrowly beaten - but 4lbs is too much, as we all know how fine the line is between winning and losing. That is my gripe over - it will make no difference, but perhaps, in a time when Racing For Change are trying to attract people into the sport - giving owners a chance to see the benefit of their patience, and recoup just a little bit of their money would be a start! E Major has been dropped 1lb for getting beat 18 lengths which also seems pretty skinny - I was not expecting a huge drop, but I did think it would be a touch more than 1.