HANDICAPPING RATINGS UPDATE

Three Troikas Stakes (Grade 3)

Mount Laurel has had her rating upped from 94 to 112 after she defied joint top weight to record her fourth win from five lifetime starts in the Grade 3 Three Troikas Stakes at Turffontein on Saturday.

She remains unbeaten against her own gender, her sole defeat to date having been incurred against male rivals.

Runner-up Victoria Paige and Spiritofthegroove were used as the line horses here, which means that their ratings both remain unchanged, but third-placed Magic School goes up from 100 to 107.

Fifth-placed Stage Dance goes up from 91 to 104, while Frosted Steel was upped from 90 to 94.

Two fillies were given a ratings’ drop, with Gin Fizz being cut from 110 to 108 and Marygold from 109 to 107.

Tony Ruffel Stakes (Grade 3)

Ultra-promising Ikigai was raised from 98 to 114 after he won the Grade 3 Tony Ruffel Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein.

The handicappers firmly believe that he deserves a prominent position among the best of his generation at this moment in time.

It should be noted that Ikigai has consistently run to marks well above his pre-race rating of 98 in his last several starts, but those performances were all achieved in graduation plates and as such, in terms of the local conditions, his rating could not be adjusted for any of those runs.

Third-placed John Hancock appealed as an obvious choice of line horse and accordingly his rating remains unchanged, but runner-up Westlife (who was having his first start as a gelding) was raised from 81 to 103.

Fifth-finisher Valetoria goes up from 86 to 92, while in the race’s only drop, Johnny Hero, goes from 99 to 97.

London News Stakes (Grade 3)

Jet Start has had her rating raised from 105 to 107 after she ran out a narrow winner of the Grade 3 London News Stakes over 1800m at Turffontein.

Runner-up Green Haze was used as the line horse when assessing the race and so his rating remains unchanged.

No horses aside from the winner received a ratings’ raise, but there were drops for Divine Odyssey (who goes from 116 to 115) and Return Flight, who is down to 113 from 116.

Lady’s Bracelet (Listed)

Dancing In Seattle has had her rating increased from 96 to 102 after she made virtually all the running to post a narrow success in the Listed Lady’s Bracelet for fillies and mares over 1600m at Fairview on Friday 3 January

.Runner-up Madame Speaker and fourth-placed Delia’s Delight remain unchanged after being used as joint line horses when assessing this race, while third-placed Meryl also remains unaltered.

Two horses were given a rating’s drop, with Duchess Of Bourbon down from 99 to 97 and Star Fighter being trimmed from 106 to 105. - NHA