Can't argue with that.
But you can only beat what lines up against you. You produce yours in the best condition you can. If the opposition are lacking quality or are AWOL, you aren't responsible for that.
You cannot 'magic' hot competition out of thin air. There is still no better placing than 1st.
Super Article - Feeding
Yea, maybe. But I rode good horses, like our 2yo filly that won four on end, two stakes races and was top filly of it's year. I sat on it and steered.
For me, winning a good handicap on an older horse that was bought cheaply and we'd spent a lot of time sorting out, and was a bugger to ride, that was satisfying.
Or the year when I had a shed full of yearling widowers that were miles better than anything else, after the third win in three weeks no one would talk to me
But my three old mealy distance pigeons that would race north one week, south the next, and were always entered in the two and three bird nominated, I got massive enjoyment from getting a card for winning another 3 bird.
I always get more enjoyment from winning with something that isn't top class, but you've trained it and persevered and got the very best out of it.
Maybe not so much of an ego trip, but quietly rewarding.
Greetings from the land down under. 
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
Blessed is he who expecteth nothing, for verily, he shall not be disappointed.
