pmt

There was a time  when the Supreme Novice winner would be rated in the 140/150 range but not this year. last year menorah (151) GMOOH (150) general Miller (146) were responsibly handicapped and only Menorah has so far managed to run to his rating. This year we already have Dunraven Storm on 150 and that is after being beaten 8l by a novice !! Of course Cue Card is not just a novice but THE talking horse of the s eason but can he really be worth a rating of 160+ already afte rtwo wins in novices. The Sharp novices he won usually throws up a 135/140 horse but the first two are now rated a stone higher. Something simlar happened to Clerk's Choice a facile winner in the 4yo hurdle at the Cheltenham October meeting. he was raised 31 lbs to 162 for beating some out of form rivals. The way the handicapper is reacting to novice form means it will be very difficult for this season's novices to win the big handicaps.