Port Elizabeth Gold Cup (Listed)
BARAK has had his merit rating raised from 85 to 91 following his success in the Listed Port Elizabeth Gold Cup over 3200m on the turf track at Fairview on Friday 15 July. The Handicappers were of the view that runner-up ANCIENT TIMES made for the best line horse, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 95.
With effect from 1 August 2022, Rule 54.14 is amended as follows:
54.2 ALTERATIONS IN THE WEIGHTS
54.14 OWNERS or TRAINERS may claim and are responsible for the claiming of an APPRENTICE and female sex allowance in any RACE, except any RACE specified to preclude APPRENTICE and female sex allowances, for the RACE MEETING concerned. The APPRENTICE allowance shall be 4Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE has ridden his 20th winner; thereafter the allowance shall be 2.5Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE has ridden his 40th winner and thereafter 1.5Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE rides his 50th winner. In the case of a female APPRENTICE, the allowance shall be 4Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE has ridden her 20th winner; thereafter the allowance shall be 3Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE has ridden her 40th winner and thereafter 2Kg until the end of the RACE MEETING in which the APPRENTICE rides her 50th winner. Thereafter there shall be a permanent female sex allowance of 1.5Kg for the remainder of her riding career.
To all Equine Owners, Managers, Veterinarians, and other Stakeholders,
Background:
The National Horseracing Authority has noted that Onderstepoort Biological Products (OBP) Is experiencing a crisis in the supply of the registered African horse sickness (AHS) live attenuated vaccine. Consequently, this has resulted in industry stakeholders such as vets, trainers, owners, and breeders having limited access to AHS vaccines.
Hollywoodbets Durban July (Grade 1)
SPARKLING WATER has had her merit rating raised from 116 to 122 following her success under an enterprising ride in the Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Durban July over 2200m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 2 July. The Handicappers were of the unanimous view that 3rd finisher SAFE PASSAGE and 4th placed DO IT AGAIN made for the most suitable line horses when assessing the race, leaving them unchanged on ratings of 122 and 126, respectively.
World Sports Betting Pocket Power Stakes (Grade 3)
WINCHESTER MANSION remained unchanged on a mark of 99 following his victory in the World Sports Betting Pocket Power Stakes (Grade 3) at Kenilworth on Saturday 25 June. The Handicappers were of the view that 4th placed BARATHEON made for the most suitable line horse which leaves him unchanged on a rating of 90. In rating the race this way the winner only achieves a rating of 92 - well below his official rating of 99, however, it was considered that this race produced a time that was a full 2,67 seconds slower than the World Sports Betting River Jetez Stakes (Listed) which took place approximately 35 minutes earlier. The Handicappers felt that it was unlikely that WINCHESTER HILLS had performed to the same level here than when it ran 2nd to GEM KING in the WSB Legal Eagle Stakes (Grade 3) on 21 May, given that the race time was actually 2.32 seconds faster than MARIA QUEROL managed when winning the Stormsvlei Stakes (Listed) run earlier that day.
The NHA is pleased to announce that its Laboratory, has been reissued with a Certificate of Accreditation to the most recent version of the international laboratory testing quality compliance standard ISO/IEC 17025:2017. This certification will remain in place and valid until June 2027, conditional on surveillance assessments (interim inspections) every 18 months. Our Laboratory has been accredited to such an international standard since 1994.
Track And Ball Oaks (Grade 2)
PINK TOURMALINE remains unchanged on a rating of 108 following her victory in the Grade 2 Track And Ball Oaks for fillies and mares over 2400m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday 18 June. The Handicappers noted that 5th placed SCENTED MISTRESS and 7th finisher KEEP ON DANCING replicated the form they had shown when they met in a Listed event won by SHE’S A KEEPER at Hollywoodbets Greyville on 14 May and elected to use these two as joint line horses here. As such, SCENTED MISTRESS and KEEP ON DANCING remain unchanged on mark of 94 each.
Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge (Grade 1)
AL MUTHANA has had his merit rating raised from 122 to 125 following his success on WFA terms in the Grade 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge over 1600m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf course on Saturday 11 June. The Handicappers were of the view that 4th placed MK’S PRIDE made for the most suitable line horse when assessing this event, leaving him unchanged on a mark of 122.
Runner-up LINEBACKER remains unchanged on a rating of 126, but 3rd placed JET DARK was dropped slightly from 130 to 129. It was noted that JET DARK had not been able to run to a rating of 130 in three starts since he achieved that mark in the Grade 1 L’ Ormarins Queen’s Plate five months earlier, hence the slight ratings drop.
5th placed RUSSIAN ROCK was raised from 118 to 120, while 6th placed BINGWA goes up from 117 to 119 to at least make him the equal of the 119-rated 7th finisher SILVER OPERATOR. The final increase was for PRINCE OF FIRE, who is up from 110 to 114.
There were ratings drops for two horses aside from JET DARK. CROWN TOWERS is down from 117 to 116, while EDEN ROC was trimmed from 111 to 110.
Golden Horse Sprint (Handicap) (Grade 1)
ALESIAN CHIEF has had his merit rating raised from 119 to 123 following his success in the Grade 1 Golden Horse Sprint (Handicap) over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday 4 June. The Handicappers were of the unanimous opinion that 3rd finisher SMORGASBORD made for the ideal line horse, which leaves him unchanged on a rating of 118.
The winner aside, the only other ratings increase was for runner-up BARTHOLDI, who goes up from 112 to 115.
There were however ratings drops for no fewer than eight horses. REAL GONE KID is down slightly from 112 to 111, ULTRA MAGNUS drops to 112 from 114, BATTLE FORCE is down from 120 to 118, HELLO WINTER HELLO was trimmed from 113 to 112, PEARL OF ASIA drops from 117 to 115, WARRIOR’S REST is down to 107 from 111, CARTEL CAPTAIN drops from 117 to 115, and lastly AL SAKEET was dropped from 116 to 114.
Daily News 2000 (Grade 1)
SAFE PASSAGE has had his merit rating raised from 117 to 122 following his fluent success in the Grade 1 Daily News 2000 for three-year-olds over 2000m on the Hollywoodbets Greyville turf course on Saturday 28 May. The Handicappers were unanimously of the view that runner-up POMP AND POWER, who stayed on at the finish after making the pace, made for the most suitable line horse, which leaves him unchanged on a mark of 118. In rating the race this way SENSO UNICO confirms the 110 performance he produced when finishing 10th in the Grade 2 Guineas at the same venue three weeks earlier and it seems unlikely that he would have run worse than that here. In fact, POMP AND POWER beat SENSO UNICO by 3,45 lengths in the Guineas and 4.05 lengths in the Daily News 2000 and as such confirm the Handicappers’ selection of POMP AND POWER as the line horse. It is very unlikely that both these horses have run below their Guineas form considering that they were both making their KZN debuts on that occasion.
The Handicappers opted not to raise SENSO UNICO for his 110 in the Guineas as it was felt that he might have been flattered in something of a blanket finish on that occasion, but having in fact confirmed that level of form in the Daily News 2000 SENSO UNICO has been given a rating of 110.
In other increases, 3rd finisher ARAGOSTA goes up from 109 to 118, while 4th placed WATERBERRY LANE was raised from 115 to 117.
There were no ratings drops for any runners in this race.
