If you take it that a horse with a decent chance of winning at listed level or better historically has an official handicappers rating of 100-plus, then smart owners and trainers really have the ability to shop around for that elusive black type. Because geography does matter.
There are some Group 1 and Group 2 races that are laughingly graded by the pattern committee and are often no better than a good open handicap in either Sydney or Melbourne on any weekend.
As a consequence of this, when certain clubs have one of their ‘big days’ that are awash with prize money, the calibre of horse is usually so poor that the eastern states’ second graders can go over and make some money and black type. Under different circumstances it would be considered robbery and deemed illegal.
» Horse racing on The Roar
» 2016 Melbourne Cup
» Australian racing calendar for 2016
» The Roar’s Top 50 racehorses in Australian history
» Re-live Black Caviar’s astonishing career
Take a look at Adelaide’s big day this weekend with the SA Derby (Group 1) and three listed races to accompany it. There are 133 acceptors. There is not one horse running in the whole meeting that has an official rating in three figures.
There are eight races with a total of $1.2 million in prize money.
At Scone there is one Group 1, one Group 3 and one Group 4. There are 117 acceptors for eight races with $1.33 million in prize money. There are six horses at Scone with a 100-plus rating.
Meanwhile, at Doomben there is a Group, Group 2 and two Group 3s. 104 horses have accepted and there is $1.205 million in prize money on offer. There are 17 horses with a 100-plus official rating.
Surely, any owner or trainer with half a brain will, assuming race suitability obviously, take their reserve graders to the mickey mouse meetings like Morphettville this Saturday. There they will have a far easier time picking up some money and stud value than they would at other meetings.
Surely, it’s time for the patterns committee to take their heads out of the sand and take the inevitable decision to downgrade some of these alleged black-type races to better reflect the grade of competitor.
One would think a logical extension of that would be to have an Australian-wide governing body to look over a race timetable where the underlying ethos is the strength of racing as a whole, rather than the interests and wallets of a select few.
Have you ever tried your skills in a Racing daily fantasy competition? Put your best picks to the test for one day and see if you can scoop the pot with Draftstars. Looking for great odds on racing and sport? PlayUp is your best bet. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.
Without a Fight completed the rare Caulfield Cup-Melbourne Cup double on Tuesday as star jockey Mark Zahra went back-to-back in the big one after…
The race that stops the nation is upon us again. Every horse in the Melbourne Cup has reasons they can win, and reasons they…
Those who want to have a really big collect on Australia’s greatest race, without risking too much, have to look at the exotic bets.
While most of the attention is on Ciaron Maher and David Eustace's Gold Trip, there's no reason why stablemate Future History cannot upstage him.
Champion jockey Damien Oliver is quietly confident his Melbourne Cup mount Alenquer will be passed fit to give him a farewell ride in the…
Melbourne Cup day is here again, and it’s never anything less than exciting. The Cup itself will of course be full of drama and…
