New South African merit rating hike kicks in

Ken Nicol

Anyone logging onto the National Horseracing Authority (NHRA)’s website from 1 March to check a horse’s merit rating may get a rude surprise.

Reason? The previously announced six point (3kg) increase in official ratings for every race horse in South Africa takes effect from that date. This has been a talking point among racing people over the past few weeks.

As stated in the official NHRA press release this step became necessary because of the following:

1 (Handicapping) Guidelines limiting upward rating adjustments.

2. Race conditions restricting upward rating adjustment.

3. More aggressive rating drops for non-performance.

4. More cognizant dropping of young horses not making weightforage improvement.

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

Chief handicapper Roger Smith explained that ‘’there are too many horses rated below 70, and not enough races for this class of horse. After much consultation it was decided to take this action to move a section of these into the 70-80 level. The change is across the board, including Kimberley, and will take place from the nominations that happen on 1 March. The racing programme will not be amended’’.

Now this is all well and good, but as is admitted in the above press release a large part of the blame for this situation arising can be put down to the constrictions placed on the handicappers by the many protocols and guidelines that stop them from rating a horse to the level it actually achieved.

There is no proposal to remove these shackles from the handicappers, and while they remain, overall merit ratings are certain to slide downwards over time. Which means if things remain as they are we can expect another six-point upward rating adjustment a few years from now.