What about the Whales? Very interesting discussion and some I face nearly every day. In NY there are a lot of maiden races run. When I evaluate maiden races, I find that not all maiden winners can be treated the same. Winners of 2yo and 3yo races seem more likely to 'improve' while winners of maiden races for older maidens need to demonstrate they can handle moving up in class. To me this difference between maiden races can vary throughout the year. For example, 3yo's competing in 3yo&up races may not be as competitive in the spring as they might be later in the year.
Belmont opens this Thursday. There is a maiden carded as part of both P5's. One maiden race is for 2yo's and the other is for 3yo&up. I feel that we not only need to handicap these races differently but we need to exavluate the winners differently when they race next time.
I find this subject to be real neat and would be happy to discuss any NY examples that come up.