Forget form pattern rules - bollocks.
A 8th placing may have been a better run than a win. Might & Power ran 8th in the Epsom (certainty beaten) then came out and won the Caulfield Cup by 6 lengths.

I use relative simple rules, but they are not "simplistic" like some of these.

The way to use simple rules is to have several rules for one criteria. ie you could have 3 simple rules just for a horse's last start performance. The combination of the 3 rules provides a powerful filter, yet is based on logic and not abstract like these multiplying rules.

There are exceptions to every rule - you can also catch some of these winners by looking at what these exceptions could possible be - so if a horse doesn't fit the rule but falls into one of the exception areas don't eliminate it if meets your other criteria.