I feel much the same about the size of samples too. Obviously in stats sample size is important, and there's the Law of Large Numbers etc, but working back through a pile of old form guides will tell you sure enough that about a third of favourites get up. Doesn't require a sample of 20,000.

This is not to devalue the stats people kindly post on this forum, just to suggest that punters compile some stats of their own, looking for rough proportions.

How many winners started 1-7 days? A stack of old form guides might tell you 35.7% and a sample of a squillion races might tell you 30.2%. Either way its about a third.

Hermes