SA merit ratings to be raised

The merit ratings of all the horses in South Africa will be raised by six points from 1 March, according to a press release from the National Horseracing Authority (NHA).

It stated: “Over the last few racing seasons, a general decline in the merit ratings was observed, especially in relation to the large group of horses rated 70 and less.

Upon request, an analysis of average ratings of the racing population from August 2010 to present was undertaken.

Based on the research, the following was proposed:

- A rating increase of the domestic population by six points (3kg) effective as of entries from 1 March 2018.

The relativity between horses remains the same.

- The rating increase will “stretch” the population thereby reducing “over-crowding” in the lower divisions.

- This will only affect domestic ratings. Domestic and international ratings are not linked and are done separately.

- This adjustment will be effective on 1 March 2018 across the country. The situation arose due to: - Guidelines limiting upward rating adjustments.

- Race conditions restricting upward rating adjustment.

- More aggressive rating drops for non-performance.

- More cognisant dropping of young horses not making weightfor-age improvement.

- “Slippage” in handicap races - where there are more downward adjustments than horses remaining the same or going up. Where this happens in large numbers; the ratings tend to decrease over time.

These factors are under review.