For Kent Smith

[msola1]

mjellish,

Thank you yet again. It does begin to answer them and points out a concrete way to go about finding the patterns you describe.

Some years ago (before computer data were available) a friend of mine used to record (by hand in a ledger) every start at Saratoga by trainer, jockey, distance, and surface. He discovered there were quite particular patterns for a few trainers--not the major ones--usually involving their jockeys. Some jockeys were only used when the horse was well-intended at a route (or sprint) distance. The same jockey never brought home a sprint (or route) winner for the trainer. This was mainly useful as negative information, because obviously a jockey doesn\'t win every route for a trainer. But if the jockey showed up on a horse going the \"wrong\" distance, it was an immediate toss.

I may be back to you with more questions another time.

Mike