Handicap....The National?

Question

Does anyone know what goes through a handicapper's mind in setting the weights for a race such as the Grand National? For the last 15 years or so only Hedgehunter has won with 11 stone on his back, and the last two years he carried top weight and finished 9th and about 11th. However he is now 12 [and retired] and hadn't won a race for the last three years so it seems crazy to burden him with such weight, when you have much younger, class horses such as comply or die with just over 10 stone, seems crazy to me, and the best horses are perhaps not winning!

Answer 1

The handicapper isn't trying to help the best horses win.  He's trying to make it as close a race as possible.  I guess the handicapper feels Hedgehunter is still much more horse than the others are.

I'm always amazed how much weight the horses carry in these races, compared to flat races.