Are weights a figure of speech?

For years and years the catch cry of form students has been weights, weights and nothing but weights however in recent times there has been a movement in the punting world that believe this worth challenging. Rem Plante drove a push for weights with his Nomograph ADE Scale, where you had to use a ruler to measure the importance of weight shifts, and immortal Australian punter Don Scott really hammered home the arguments for weights in his series of books. In my early days I was enthralled, as ma

For years and years the catch cry of form students has been weights, weights and nothing but weights however in recent times there has been a movement in the punting world that believe this worth challenging. Rem Plante drove a push for weights with his Nomograph ADE Scale, where you had to use a ruler to measure the importance of weight shifts, and immortal Australian punter Don Scott really hammered home the arguments for weights in his series of books. In my early days I was enthralled, as many punters were, by the amazingly analytical discussions on radio each Saturday morning by Cliff Cary. These were out and out weights men.

Whether you believe in weights these days or not is up to you but tomorrow in Race 7 at Moonee Valley there is a classic weights situation that would have had Cliff Cary waxing lyrical and declaring one horse could not beat the other home, at the weights. On July 10 Figure Of Speech, carrying 55kg, beat Crabs, carrying 54.5kg, by one length or, as weight experts say, by 1.5kg.If Crabs had 1.5kg less there would have been a theoretical deadheat therefore there is 2kg between the two, at the weights.Tomorrow, after the claim, Crabs will carry 51kg while Figure Of Speech will carry 59kg thus Crabs is 6kg, or 4 lengths, better off.

Form students will point out Crabs has had 11 runs at MV for 1 win and Figure Of Speech two runs with one of the runs a respectable 4.8 lengths defeat in the Moonee Valley Cup. Not even Crab's mother would believe he could finish as close in a Group race run at Set Weights and Penalties on Cox Plate day.

You know what I am going to ask, don't you. Which of the two do YOU favour to finish ahead of the other?