"This horse ran a faster time"

There seems to be a common betting view held by many that all you have to do is compare times run by horses over the same distance to find out which horse is better. This betting myth is simplistic and of course does not work.

One racing media tipster, when tipping Ho Ho to beat No Hope, pointed out that Ho Ho won a 1000 metres race at his last start in 57.40 seconds but No Hope won a 1000 metres race at his last start in only 58.55 seconds, over a second slower.

The problem with that was that Ho Ho's win was at Flemington on March 2 carrying 57.5 kg. but No Hope's win was at Caulfield on March 16 carrying 56 kg.

Surely these media tipsters must know that tracks vary in speed? Conditions are also different on different days. Surely these media tipsters must know you cannot make such simplistic comparisons?

Whenever racing media tipsters resort to simply comparing times run by horses on different days and different tracks, they're being as silly as someone drawing a conclusion about who is the better spin bowler in cricket based on one bowler's results on the spinner unfriendly Perth wicket and the other bowler's results on a spinner friendly Sri Lankan wicket!