Ridiculous rise for Marracudja symptomatic of a broken handicapping system

The 11lb hike given to Marracudja as a result of his third in the Clarence House Chase brings into sharp focus a massive flaw in the whole system of handicapping.

This system is designed to theoretically give every horse an equal chance in a handicap. In the case of Marracudja, it means he has next to no chance of winning another handicap until the handicapper relents – and we all know how long that can take.

Marracudja is in his fourth season over fences and had never been rated higher than the 147 he was awarded after just two runs as a novice in 2016, a harsh assessment that led to him winning just twice in the intervening three and a half years.