Not a Bad Idea

(TUE) February 17th, 2026

8:49 p.m. Let me look at the starting barriers from a different angle.

The top-3 finish rates of each barriers in te past 10 years show the highest percentage 30% for barriers four and five, while the rates vary from 15 to 21% for barriers two, three, six and seven. The outmost barrier eight still has 15%, though the innermost barrier one shows 0% not only for the top-3 finish rates but also for top-2 and win rates. What I can pick up from these information is that perhaps it's best to start form bariiers in the middle to perform well in February Stakes.

Returning to the past 10 years' results, it proved there were only two times when neither barrier four nor five finished above third place, 2022 when the track condition was wet, and 2018 when the race was run at a considerably tight lap.

As rain is not expected for the rest of the week, it might not be a bad idea to pick the horse to key from barrier four or five.

The End

Caterpillar