Mary for me those statistics were eye opening, at least at the class and BOB level a owner handled dog looks to have as good a chance as any to win.
I'd love to see some stats from Canada though. When we went for top dog for Magic he was with a handler (ringside pickup only) and we placed in the top 3 for breed two years in a row. This was in Canada.
I do hesitate all the time to send my dog to a handler. Even though I do have some physical infirmities to deal with, I've had at least one bad experience in the past with sending a dog out to a handler.
Now I always try to do ringside pick-up and baring that if absolutely necessary I will send my dog off with a handler. And like you, I do try to find the best of the best.
It is nice to see an organization recognizing an interesting topic, and taking the time to number crunch.
For me generally speaking, I would compete more in the obedience/agility realm, and then do other fun dog sports with my dog. Once the dog has his/her's CH, then my focus will change to obedience titles.
At least in the obedience rally and agility rings they don't penalize if you as the handler can't move so well.
I remember with Magic for one of his trials in CD, we were moving out at the fast pace, I stumbled and fell, not a good thing for me as I have trouble getting up. Magic stopped, turned, came back to me, I did his command for him to stoop, then I placed my body weight on him, and command lift, he brought me back up to my feet. We lost no points for that, in fact we took high in class at 194.5 that day.
I will one day get his service dog title, then we can fly anywhere together
