KZN Breeding’s newest acquisition, New Predator, has a chance of following in the footsteps of other non-Group 1-winning KZN-based stallions Kahal, Mogok and Muhtafal, due to his magnificent pedigree.

New Predator was in fine condition and full of zest when paraded at the Bush Hill Stud stallion day last Friday and so were his colleagues Flying The Flag and Redoute’s Promise.

New Predator’s pedigree is particularly exciting as it contains the Galileo-Fastnet Rock nick 2X2. It is not surprising this nick is proving full of potency, because the mix of their respective fathers Sadler’s Wells and Danehill delivered some of the world’s best racehorses including Frankel and Minding.

Galileo needs no introduction, being a ten-times champion stallion and producer of 80 individual Group 1 winners.

Fastnet Rock is also held in high esteem and has been rated among the world’s top five stallions.

The world’s leading stud operation, Coolmore, once had a saying among their connections, “There are only three certainties in life, death, taxes and Fastnet Rock.”

Fastnet Rock won two Group 1 sprints over 1000m and 1100m respectively in Australia but then suffered from travel sickness when sent to race in Britain and was retired to stud. 

He has produced 37 individual Group 1 winners.

The Galileo-Fastnet Rock nick has already produced seven Group 1 winners.

New Predator is the first son of stallion sensation New Approach to stand in South Africa and is out of a winning Fastnet Rock mare.

New Approach was trained by ireland’s Jim Bolger and this brilliant son of Galileo won all five of his starts as a two-year-old, all over seven furlongs, including the Group 1 National Stakes at the Curragh and the Group 1 Dewhurst at Newmarket.

As a three-year-old he was narrowly beaten by Henrythenavigator in both the 2000 Guineas and Irish 2000 Guineas.  

Just two weeks after the Irish 2000 Guineas he showed just how tough he was by winning the Epsom Derby, despite having pulled in the early stages. 

He ran three times as a four-year-old, all over a mile and two furlongs, starting off with a third place to the supreme Duke Of Marmalade in the Juddmonte International. 

In his second start he beat Traffic Guard, who is now an underrated stallion at Summerhill Stud, by half-a-length in the Irish Champion Stakes. He then beat Twice Over, sire of South Africa’s best current racehorse Do It Again, by an incredible six lengths in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket in record time. Third in the latter race was Linngari, who now stands in the KZN Midlands at Rathmor Stud.

New Approach produced two classic winners in his first crop, the brilliant 2000 Guineas winner Dawn Approach and the Epsom Oaks winner Talent. 

He has produced over 40 stakes winners including seven Group 1 winners, and among the latter is Epsom Derby winner Masar.

He became the first stallion to ever sire three Royal Ascot Group stakes-winning juveniles in the same season.

Warwick Render, owner of Bush Hill Stud, said another advantage of New predator’s pedigree is it allows him to be matched with any mare.

As a racehorse, New Predator was all about speed and class and possessed a fine turn of foot.

Trainer Johan Janse van Vuuren described him as a tremendously athletic individual. However, he admitted to wrapping him in cotton wool to a certain extent. He said given the luxury of more of his class he would no doubt have targeted more Grade 1’s and reckoned the strongly built bay would have picked one up on the way. 

New Predator won the Grade 2 Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m as a three-year-old, beating former Equus Horse Of The Year Legislate in the process as well as Grade 1 winners of the like of The Conglomerate and Gold Onyx. In his previous start he had finished third to twice Equus Horse Of The Year Legal Eagle in the Grade 1 weight for age HF Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes over 1600m. Later, he finished fourth in the Grade 1 wfa Rising Sun Gold Challenge over 1600m just two weeks after not staying the distance in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000.

As a four-year-old New Predator won the Grade 2 Peermont Emperor’s Palace Charity Mile and once again had a number of Grade 1 winners behind him, including the Grade 1 wfa-winning miler Mac De Lago.

He later finished third in the Horse Chestnut Stakes again.

Janse van Vuuren was supremely confident before New Predator’s participation in the Mercury Sprint over 1200m but unfortunately his powerful finishing run came just too late and he had to be content with third place. Janse van Vuuren was in fact gobsmacked he had lost such was his bullishness that day.

New Predator is already receiving fine support and has about 60 mares booked. A number of them will be sent by his racing owner Laurence Wernars, who has syndicated him and retains shares. 

The chestnut Flying The Flag impressed all of Friday’s patrons with his magnificent looks.

Mike de Kock rated him a Group 1 performer and has consequently sent some of his own mares to him.

This son of Galileo is out of a Pivotal mare. He won a Group 3 over a mile and two furlongs at The Curragh as well as a race over the same trip at Meydan in Dubai.

Render believes breeders have not taken enough advantage of Redoute’s Promise, an magnificently-bred unraced horse. He is the first son of Danehill’s sensational son Redoute’s Choice to stand in South Africa and is out of Perfect Promise. The latter was the first SA-bred horse to win a Group 1 in Australia and is a full-sister to another Group 1 winner Irridescence. Redoute’s Choice is a twice Australian Champion sire. 

By David Thiselton

Alan Greef had six winners at Fairview yesterday, five of them ridden by Greg Cheyne, and in the exciting race for the national jockeys championship Muzi Yeni reduced the lead of Lyle Hewitson to two.

Greef repeated the recent feat of Paul Peter, who had six winners at the Vaal in one meeting, all ridden by Warren Kennedy.

Yeni rode the Duncan McKenzie-trained Bushy Park to victory in the last race.

Hewitson’s dry spell continued and he had another blank.

The lead which was ten winners at the beginning of last week is now down to two.

The two protagonists now head for Kenilworth tomorrow and there could be a thrilling conclusion at Greyville on Wednesday.

If they finish on an equal number of winners the title will be shared.

By David Thiselton

Aldo Domeyer, having delighted his growing army of followers with a heavily supported double at Kenilworth on Saturday, returns there tomorrow but sadly that is all we are going to see of him for another year.

“I’m only back here for a fortnight – really just to say hello – and then I must resume riding work in Hong Kong,” he explains.

Such is the Cape champion’s reputation after doing so well in his new base that all but one of his six mounts on Saturday started either favourite or joint favourite. “He has come back twice the jockey,” said an impressed Chris Snaith who has legged up more world class riders over the years than most of us have had holidays.

The most immediately noticeable difference in the new Domeyer is that he is now race-riding from the off. No more just slotting into a position where he and his horse feel comfortable and leaving the tactics until the straight. He now works out beforehand where his mount should be and, without unnecessarily using up the horse’s energy, makes sure he is there.

Sacred Arrow in the Pinnacle was a case in point. “He went down to the start really well but I felt it was imperative to switch him off – he probably wouldn’t find a kick if I allowed him to run free.”

The relentless driving of old is still there, and still with all the inevitability of a metronome, and Sacred Arrow duly got up to justify Candice Bass-Robinson’s selection – “Aldo asked me to give him one decent ride and I thought this was my best runner of the day.”

Honey Pie, Domeyer’s other winner, was for Justin Snaith and won by a staggering six lengths. Go Jewel, ridden by Robert Khathi, initiated a stable double half an hour earlier.

Getting the better of Domeyer in a close finish has never been easy, doubly so now, yet Anthony Andrews managed to do so on the Mike Stewart-trained top weight Icon Princess in the 1 200m handicap despite dropping his rein. “I didn’t have time to pick it up. If I’d taken a stride or two to gather up the rein I would have lost the race.”

Andrews also won the Tabonline.co.za Maiden Juvenile on Call Me Al, the first winner Mike Robinson has trained for nuclear physicist Steph Steyn and his family.

It was red-letter day for Tyrell Maharaj,19, who rode his first winner when making all on the Paul Reeves-trained Moon Rock in the 1 200m handicap. Remarkably the four-year-old won despite drifting across to the outside in the last two furlongs. Penetrometer readings indicate that the ground was significantly slower here than on the inside.

Binoche, named by owner-breeders Craig and Michelle Davis after the French actress Juliette Binoche of The English Patient fame, did them all proud by scoring at the first attempt for Vaughan Marshall and Ossie Noach in the last.

Mncedi Sigenu, universally known as Godfrey, is not a name that springs to mind in work riders’ races but perhaps it should be. He has only had three rides this season but he has won on two of them and seven-length scorer Outoftheordinary was his second success for the Bass-Robinson stable.

By Michael Clower

The battle for the national jockey championship is not lacking needle and it spilled over in the second at Greyville on Saturday. Muzi Yeni finished the day four winners behind log leader Lyle Hewitson with four meets left to the end of the season on Wednesday.

The two came together repeatedly during the running of the race with the stipendiary stewards taking a dim view of some unprofessional riding by both jockeys. The official stipes report does not go into detail but both riders will face an inquiry.

It all started at the 900m mark with Yeni’s mount Mr Greenlight shifting out off the heels of Tommy Grand resulting in Mr Greenlight and Hewitson’s mount, Moon In June, coming together. Yeni appeared to elbow Hewiston who retaliated by forcing Mr Greenlight back in behind horses. The bland report reads “…. bumping when racing in close proximity. An inquiry will be opened into this incident.”

From here, Hewitson took his mount around runners but his challenge was short-lived in the straight allowing Mr Greenlight to come back at him with Yeni taking up his running forcing Hewitson it ease Moon In June off the heels of Mr Greenlight. “At the 400m Moon In June was carried out and was eased off the heels of Mr Greenlight. An inquiry will be opened into this incident.”

Yeni then took his frustrations into the boardroom. “A further inquiry will be held into jockey M Yeni’s conduct in the boardroom,” concluded the report.

Both riders have been maintaining a punishing schedule in their hunt for winners and exhaustion must be a mitigating factor. Yeni will have ridden in over 1800 races this season for 212 winners while Hewitson has clocked up over 1500 races for his current tally of 216 winners.

By Andrew Harrison

Joey Ramsden landed the second eLan Gold Cup of his career on Saturday and the keys besides training skills were jockey Nooresh Juglall taking full advantage of his low draw of two and the tough four-year-old filly responding obediently to his adept instructions.   

Dynasty’s Blossom was not favoured by the compressed handicap conditions of the race, as opposed to her last start in the Gold Vase over 3000m, where she was well weighted.  

However, it has been proven time and time again in South African racing that weight in 3200m races is not the deciding factor. Staying every inch of the trip and being tuned to the minute are just as important and enjoying a good passage in the race is crucial.  

The way it panned out for Juglall was the pole opposite to the way it had happened just one race earlier on Ramsden’s charge Double Alliance in the Grade 1 Premier’s Champion Stakes over 1600m. This Twice Over gelding began pulling from a good draw of three and was then caught without cover for a few strides, so his race was run before they turned for home.

Dynasty’s Blossom, on the other hand, relaxed well from the off, even when she faced the breeze for the first 250m. Juglall was then able to ease her on to the rail as the wider draw horses came across to take up the running. She had thus found cover without any exertion whatsoever.  

She was much more relaxed in those first 250m metres than the favourite Doublemint, who was quite strong on the bit until the cover had come across.

Doublemint’s fancied stable companion Strathdon began pulling before the first turn and it took him a while to settle after that. 

Another fancied horse, Shenanigans, found himself trapped wide down the back straight and jockey Lyle Hewitson was forced to go forward.

The second favourite Gimme One Night was crossed by Dynasty’s Blossom 250m after the start, forcing him to ease, and he became unsettled for a few strides. However, after that he settled well and can have few excuses, so perhaps his pedigree, which is not as suitable for this trip as Dynasty’s Blossom, was the telling factor. He had won a Listed race over 3200m at Kenilworth in January, but that race was run at a canter for the first kilometre. 

Another horse who was in single figures in the odds, the topweight Roy Had Enough, was a bit strong in the first 350m before Piere Strydom expertly placed him one wide with cover in midfield. However, Strydom sacrificed his good position at about the 11000m mark when deciding the pace behind the leader Dark Moon Rising, who had gone few lengths clear, was too slow. He inched his charge forward on the outside of horses. Roy Had Enough stayed on well in the straight but the weight of 60kg told. 

Strydom’s early move might have been necessary, considering he was still beaten a head in the end by Dark Moon Rising, but it also helped the horses who were further back. As it happened the first three home all came from the back half of the field.  

Juglall took full advantage of Strydom’s move and made the race-winning decision at about the 900m mark. He switched outward off the rail and got on to the back of the train which was beginning to chase Dark Moon Rising.  

Dynasty’s Blossom thus had momentum turning for home and had plenty of fuel in the tank too due to the good passage she had enjoyed. 

She gave a tremendous kick and now just had to stay. She also had to get through some traffic and once again Juglall’s decision-making helped as he switched her a few horse widths inwards when passing Roy Had Enough. This ensured the filly would not be hampered by the slowing Dark Moon Rising.  

Dynasty’s Blossom began to hang outward late in the race but had done enough to beat Made To Conquer, who came from last, by 0,80 lengths.

Doublemint ran on well but his exertions in the first 250m might well have caught up with him and he could only manage a 1,20 length third. 

The pole position-drawn Al Bon Dubai, whom Dynasty’s Blossom had sat behind for most of the journey, also enjoyed a good passage but didn’t have the same momentum coming into the straight. He stayed on well for a 1,80 length fourth. 

The unlucky horse was no doubt Shenanigans. Despite the poor trip he had. He still managed to battle on for a 2,05 length fifth.

Dark Moon Rising also did remarkably well to hold on for sixth, beaten 2,75 lengths, considering he led by about seven lengths at one stage.

It was a peach of a ride by Juglall and another fine training feat by Ramsden, whose expertise as a horseman will be sorely missed if he does relocate to Singapore.

Juglall gave credit to four time-winning Gold Cup jockey, Glen Hatt, for advising him how to ride the filly.

Hatt is the racing manager of Dynasty’s Blossom’s part-owners Maine Chance Farms. Another part-owner is of high profile in world racing, Mrs John Magnier, and the other part-owner is Jagessar Limited (nominee Alan Cooper). 

Dynasty’s Blossom was bred by Highlands Farm Stud and Georgina Jaffee. 

If lessons were to be learned by punters and pundits it is that how a horse behaves in the first half of a race should be studied just as much as it does in the closing stages. Pedigree analysis and an attempt to calculate how the race will pan out for the first 1000m are also of importance.  

However, by the time the Gold Cup arrives next year these lessons will likely have been forgotten and the usual collateral form and weights will likely take precedence over all other predicting factors. 

By David Thiselton

Justin Snaith, still basking in the glory of back-to-back Vodacom Durban July wins with Do It Again, saddles three proven stayers in tomorrow’s Gr3 eLan Gold Cup and although Do It Again will not emulate Space Walk’s July and Gold Cup double some three decades back, he has other strings to his bow.

Snaith has given Strathdon the somewhat dubious nick-name of ‘Matthew Lips’ after one of the NHA’s senior handicappers, pointing out that Strathdon has not won a race for nearly two years, his last win coming in an eight-horse race off a merit rating of 87. He now has a rating of 101 without having won a race since, a situation that riles Snaith every time the subject is brought up.

Strathdon has paid for his consistency but stable rider Richard Fourie has stuck with the gelding which speaks volumes.

Snaith was fairly bullish of Doublemint’s chances in the VDJ where he was heavily supported in the market, in from 28-1 to start 13-1 on the day. He was only four lengths back to Do It Again but runs like a horse that is looking for today’s trip and has a pedigree that suggests that he will be at home over the extra. In Anton Marcus he has a jockey who knows exactly what is required and this could be Snaith’s parting shot.

Frank Robinson has turned to currently Mauritius-based Piere Strydom to partner top weight Roy Had Enough. The colt ran an excellent race in the VDJ, beaten less than three lengths but it was possibly telling that Marcus, who partnered the colt in the Track & Ball Derby, suggested the Gold Cup rather than the July after that win.

With Track & Ball offering 5-1 and better the field there is plenty of opportunity and Brett Crawford is responsible for the 10-1 chance Gimme One Night who was a cracking second to Shenanigans in the Betting World 2200 on July day. Crawford has brought him on slowly leading into this event. He stays well, has a good draw and a handy weight which ticks many of the boxes.

There are plenty of others in with chances but Doublemint gets the nod ahead of stable companion Strathdon with Gimme One Night having the ideal prep.

One of the highlights of the afternoon will be the clash between VDJ runner-up Rainbow Bridge and the progressive Buffalo Bill Cody in the Gr1 Champions Cup.

Rainbow Bridge has done little wrong for Eric Sands except win this winter and rounding off his season with a Gr1 victory would be fitting.

With Hawwaam being scratched at the start of the VDJ, punters were denied the opportunity of seeing possibly the country’s best three-year-old perform against his elders but stable companion Buffalo Bill Cody has only once tasted defeat and cruised to a comfortable victory over the smart Cirilo in his only start this year.

Off the track for close on eight months with a virus is not ideal but Mike de Kock is a master of his trade and the match-up between two top horses is a mouth-watering prospect.

There are three other Gr1 races on the card, The Mercury sprint possibly an Equus Award decider in the sprint category and the two Gr1’s for Juveniles, the Premiers Champion Stakes and the Thekhwini Stakes for fillies are both hotly contested affairs.

A win for recent Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Eden Roc will cement his place at the top of the pile for two-year-old males but the filly’s category is not cut-and-dried with many of the leading candidates having coffin draws next Saturday.

By Andrew Harrison

To take a bet go to www.tabgold.co.za or www.trackandball.co.za

Aldo Domeyer is going to have a field day on his return at Kenilworth on Saturday if the bookmakers are right. When the early prices were posted yesterday five of Domeyer’s seven mounts were favourites and another was second favourite.

The favourites comprise the Justin Snaith-trained newcomer Peaceful Day (race 2) and stable companions Honey Pie (4) and Spirit Festival (7), Andre Nel’s Round The Horn (8) and the Candice Bass-Robinson-trained Sacred Arrow in the Pinnacle (5).

A spell in Hong Kong can improve a jockey quite considerably and punters with long memories will recall how five years ago Karis Teetan returned from his first stint there to win on seven of his 21 rides. Most of the winners were so little fancied that all except the last of them started at 7-1 or more. Judging by Saturday’s prices the bookmakers have not forgotten either!

By Michael Clower

His rowdy backers did not take the slightest bit of notice of all the black looks as they bellowed home 36/1 chance Justfortheepenny in the second at Hollywoodbets Scottsville yesterday. With only one behind him turning for home, the volume gradually grew from a hopeful cry of “come on Muzi” to a crescendo as Muzi Yeni drove the colt home to a commanding victory for Nathan Kotzen and owner Rob Haswell who had brought along an enthusiastic entourage to share in the moment.

Bred by his good friend Anton Procter, it was a sentimental win for Haswell as the colt was named in honour of his late wife Penny who was a pillar of ‘Maritzburg society and well known for her philanthropic work. A strapping son of Just As Well, Justfortheepenny won with authority, showing a sharp turn of foot which bodes well for his future.

Haswell is not one to shy away from a good punt and there will have been a few sighs of relief around the betting shops as Cumulus played second fiddle to Ultra Magnus in the seventh.

But Haswell will have known his fate early, as Brett Crawford’s runner put plenty of daylight between himself, Cumulus and the opposition. Ultra Magnus has had his fair share of niggles but Zimbabwean Brian Makwabarara, well known in racing circles here and north of the border, and partner Graeme Hawkins have been patient and things are looking rosy.

Gareth van Zyl will have taken great satisfaction in Noble Joshua’s victory in the Track & Ball Gaming Apprentice Handicap as Kabelo Matsunyane got the often difficult gelding home ahead of another not so easy ride, Legend.

“He is self-destructive,” confirmed Van Zyl. “He was scratched at the start twice before but we have been working on him and he seems to have got over that now.”

It was not an easy day for supporters of favourites and Bella Ballarina got the ball rolling in the first, Yeni producing Yogas Govender’s filly with a timely run to out-point the two more fancied rivals, Talia Al Ghul and Katie’s Treasure. The latter appears to be another problem child, Mark Khan mounting up only once the filly had been loaded.

Anton Marcus steadied the ship somewhat in the third as he scored on the odds-on chance Arizona Silk to give Kotzen a quick double. Up against winners at his last two, Arizona Silk franked the form of stable companion Kayden’s Pride and the Mike de Kock runner Alibi Guy, both runners on eLan Gold Cup day this Saturday.

Corinne Bestel has a small string but her runners appear to have an affinity for Scottsville with Blaze Of Silk doing the honours under apprentice Tejash Juglall in the fourth.

Serino Moodley made his trip to Scottsville for one ride count as he steered Carmella home for Mike Miller in the fifth. The filly was saddled by Craig Eudey. Eudey handed in his trainer’s brief earlier this year but has now signed up with Miller in partnership, the two having known each other for over 40 years.

Marsanne lost her unbeaten record in the Blinkers Bar Handicap but this was her first outing on a firm turf track, her two wins both coming on the poly, but she did well enough finishing a close-up third behind the progressive Linnear trained by Lezeanne Forbes and less fancied stable companion Wildly In Love.

It was a tough day at the office for visiting trainer Paul Peter who had a number of well fancied runners disappoint, but he did not go home empty handed with Corrido rounding off his afternoon.

By Andrew Harrison

Just like this year’s Vodacom Durban July, Saturday’s eLan Gold Cup has attracted a superior line-up of stayers, and fittingly brings down the curtain on this year’s racing season that officially ends on Wednesday, July 31.

The race was recently down-graded from a Grade 1 to a Grade 3, the grading committee taking the view that the quality of recent fields was not up to Grade 1 standard.

The Equus Awards committee have also added a caveat to the staying category saying that if the staying ranks were not up to scratch, the award of the country’s best stayer can be held over.

It shouldn’t be the case this year and Saturday’s winner at Hollywoodbets Greyville will be worthy of an Equus award, no matter who wins.

At first glance the race appears to have thrown up two or three standout runners, but a closer perusal of the form sees every runner in with a decent chance, from top weight Roy Had Enough to bottom weight Onesie.

It is a difficult race that stacks up a field of tough stayers in one of the best renewals of the famous race being run for the 99^th year.

Justin Snaith, still basking in the glory of back-to-back Vodacom Durban July wins with Do It Again, saddles three proven stayers and although Do It Again will not emulate Space Walk’s July and Gold Cup double some three decades back, Snaith has other strings to his bow.

Snaith has given Strathdon the somewhat dubious nick-name of ‘Matthew Lips’ after one of the NHA’s senior handicappers, pointing out that Strathdon has not won a race for nearly two years, his last win coming in an eight-horse race off a merit rating of 87. He now has a rating of 101 without having won a race since, a situation that riles Snaith every time the subject is brought up.

Strathdon has paid for his consistency but stable rider Richard Fourie has stuck with the gelding which speaks volumes.

 Snaith was fairly bullish of Doublemint’s chances in the VDJ where he was heavily supported in the market, in from 28-1 to start 13-1 on the day. He was only four lengths back to Do It Again and Anton Marcus could change his fortunes.

There is not enough space here to go through the runners but some that have caught the eye are top weight Roy Had Enough and the filly Dynasty’s Blossom.

One of the highlights of the afternoon will be the clash between VDJ runner-up Rainbow Bridge and the progressive Buffalo Bill Cody in the Gr1 Champions Cup.

Rainbow Bridge has done little wrong for Eric Sands except win this winter and rounding off his season with a Gr1 victory would be fitting.

With Hawwaam being scratched at the start of the VDJ, punters were denied the opportunity of seeing possibly the country’s best three-year-old perform against his elders.

Buffalo Bill Cody has only once tasted defeat and cruised to a comfortable victory over the smart Cirilo in his only start this year.

Off the track for close on eight months suggests that he has had problems but Mike de Kock is a master of his trade and the match-up between two top horses is a mouth-watering prospect.

There are three other Gr1 races on the card, The Mercury sprint possibly an Equus Award decider in the sprint category and the two Gr1’s for Juveniles, the Premiers Champion Stakes and the Thekhwini Stakes for fillies are both hotly contested affairs.

A win for recent Gr2 Golden Slipper winner Eden Roc will cement his place at the top of the pile for two-year-old males but the filly’s category is not cut-and-dried with many of the leading candidates having coffin draws next Saturday.

By Andrew Harrison

SA DOMESTIC HORSERACING POPULATION MERIT RATINGS ADJUSTMENT – 1 AUGUST 2019

Over the past few seasons it has been observed that a general decline in the Merit Ratings of South African domiciled horses was occurring, and that the trend has continued despite the “blanket” six pounds raise to all Merit Ratings which came into effect in March 2018.  This is particularly true at the lower end of the spectrum, where some 75% of the horse population are rated 72 and below.  The above observations were discussed extensively during the 2019 Handicappers Roadshow.

Effects of the Guidelines and Slippage Factor:

In large part, the problem of “slippage” in the overall Ratings has been exacerbated byHandicapping guidelines which were designed to severely limit increases in horses’ Ratings thereby ‘protecting’ improving horses and which in turn, as a compensatory measure, resulted in a more vigorous approach towards dropping the Ratings of struggling horses in a bid to equalise the Handicapping as much as possible.  This practice resulted in 75% of the Horse Population being rated below 72 thus causing an extreme imbalance (or congestion) in the National Merit Ratings Pyramid and consequentially to the National Race Programme.

Current Handicapping Philosophy:

Since January 2019, the NHA have adopted a more accountable and pure Handicapping philosophy by reverting to, where possible, assessing horses on their performance and not on other (often irrelevant) criteria as promulgated by the Guidelines, but the damage had already been done.   This current philosophy of handicapping horses more accurately in terms of their actual achievements should ensure that there will not be such a rapid decline in the overall Ratings again in future and, where possible (except where local operators conditions limit the Handicappers), a horse’s published or official Merit Rating would reflect the Handicappers’ assessments of a horse’s ability. 

National Horseracing Population Merit Rating Adjustment:

Accordingly, it was proposed by the NHA Handicapping team, and largely agreed upon at the Roadshows, that another increase in Domestic Merit Ratings be considered in order to balance the Population’s Merit Ratings and the Race Programme as well as alleviate any further degeneration of the Population’s Merit Ratings.  This proposal was ratified by the National Board and will come into effect on 1 August 2019.  It has been agreed that the Domestic Merit Ratings of all horses domiciled in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape will be increased by 10 pounds.

Eastern Cape:

Horses domiciled in the Eastern Cape will have their Merit Ratings increased by 5 pounds.  This decision was taken in light of the Eastern Cape racing centre being a victim of the ‘creep factor’.    An Eastern Cape horse will be defined, for the purposes of the adjustment, as any horse domiciled and trained in the Eastern Cape that has had two of its last three starts in Eastern Cape.

Northern Cape and Zimbabwe:

The same definition of what constitutes domiciles will be applied to horses based in the Northern Cape and Zimbabwe, but no increase will be implemented in the Merit Ratings of horses in those regions.

Merit Ratings and the Race Programme:

This increase will have the highly desirable effect of uncluttering the lowest divisions as well as helping to boost the higher divisions, where races often attract small fields or fall away altogether due to insufficient entries.  Horses at the bottom of the Ratings’ spectrum will also find it much easier to get into races than is presently the case, where they are regularly eliminated or have no option but to contest races which are too strong for them.  The National Race Programme, as confirmed by the Racing Operators, will be adjusted to accommodate the impending Merit Rating increase and should ensure a balance between the Merit Ratings and the National Race Programme. 

International Merit Ratings:

It should be noted that the increase will only affect Domestic Merit Ratings and not the International Ratings of South African trained horses.  The International Ratings of South African trained horses are done by the World’s Best Racehorse Ratings Committee.

Handicapping Methodology and Updated Guidelines:

A Handicapping Methodology Guide as well as the updated Handicapping Guidelines will be published by the NHA on implementation of the abovementioned National Merit Rating increase.

Ends.