Racing NSW and Racing RA hit major block as ARF reject all 17 upgrades
The Asian Racing Federation (ARF) has delivered a stinging rebuke to Racing NSW (RNSW) and Racing Australia (RA) by rejecting their controversial list of supposed black type upgrades for 17 races in New South Wales.
But with most of those races already run once under their mooted new grading, the rejection means a mass of confusion remains over issues surrounding the 17 – including doubts about the value of horses involved and their relatives, to weight penalties given to those who’ve won them.
Certain breeding industry officials have been encouraged lately by perceived signs RA are RNSW and more willing – compared to when the debacle erupted last spring – to enter into discussions on the black type situation.
Breeders hope this will lead to the reinstitution of a proper, internationally recognised Australian pattern committee – which has not existed for six years, and which was last year ostensibly replaced by RA’s new structure dubbed “Australian Black Type Guidelines”.
But with 15 of the 17 races already run, even if RA accepts the ARF’s ruling and restores those events to their previous status, a web of complications will still need to be addressed.
These include the question of how races will be assessed for the sake of upgrades or downgrades when horses competing in them may have had ratings falsely inflated by having won a “black type” race that wasn’t.
That issue has been exposed this week in the case of Gringotts (Per Incanto), who won two of the 17 last spring – The Gong (1600m), and the Big Dance (1600m) – which were elevated to supposed black type status by RNSW to Group 3 and Listed respectively.
Gringotts is now rated on 112, and has 61kg topweight for Saturday’s quality handicap Liverpool City Cup (Gr 3, 1300m) at Randwick. His senior part–owner Ozzie Kheir turned a spotlight on his rating in comments to the media this week, pointing out that another horse he races, Jimmysstar (Per Incanto) is only rated on 109 after winning last Saturday’s Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m).
For now, Australasian industry participants will watch to see how Peter V’landys’ RNSW and RA respond to the ARF’s edict.
ANZ Bloodstock News understands that decision came on Friday last week, when the ARF executive committee endorsed a directive from the Asian Pattern Committee (APC) proposing the rejection of upgrades for the 17, which were unilaterally elevated to status from Listed to Group 2. The APC’s approval last spring of upgrades to Group 1 status for The Everest (Gr 1, 1200m) and the All-Star Mile (Gr 1, 1600m), is untouched by this latest ruling.
It was not immediately clear on what basis the 17 were rejected, but certain industry figures said it was most likely due to the fact Australia does not have a proper pattern committee, rather than on any assessment of the races’ ratings.
The decision means the upgrades will remain unrecognised by the all-important International Cataloguing Standards publication “The Blue Book”. Since they were not gazetted in that publication, the upgrades had already been ignored by the southern hemisphere’s largest pedigree provider Arion, and have therefore not been reflected in yearling sales catalogues in Australasia so far this year.
With RA not commenting on the matter when contacted by ANZ on Thursday, it also remains to be seen whether the two races of the 17 yet to be run will be held under their supposed new status in defiance of the ARF ruling. They are the Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m), slated for upgrading from Group 3 to Group 2, at Rosehill on March 29, and Gosford’s The Coast (1600m) on May 10, scheduled as Listed.
With the APC and ARF’s position now very clear, holding the two events as Group 2 and Listed could provoke a deeper, more consequential confrontation with the international authorities.
Drawing headlines around the world, NSW’s – and therefore Australia’s – black type debacle has ramifications for all connections and breeders of horses who have won, especially, or come in the first four of the races involved, and for their relatives in catalogues around the globe.
Owners of related mares, particularly, have been impacted, unable to advertise at yearling sales that their stock are connected to black type winners.
Two-year-old North England (Farnan) is another runner in question having won November’s Inglis Golden Gift (1100m), a race supposedly given black type status as a Group 3.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott–trained colt is owned by a group headed by Newgate Bloodstock, who naturally are eyeing North England as a future stallion for their stud farm. They would therefore be eager to advertise the colt as a Group 3 winner – particularly since he’ll be given weight penalties as one as he tries to build his profile in future races – but cannot.
Confusion still remains, and an unholy mess looms in terms of untangling what has already taken place, with some industry figures raising the spectre of lawsuits against Australian administrators from affected connections.
Certain industry figures spoken to by ANZ expressed surprise that RA had even submitted its list of the 17 to the APC at all, having indicated it was prepared to go it alone by running 15 of them so far under their supposed new status. Some also noted that Racing Victoria, supposedly at loggerheads with RNSW, presumably must have agreed to the submission of its arch-rival’s list, given Victoria is one of two states – along with NSW – to have the power of veto at RA.
As a first step, some breeding authorities welcomed the APC/ARF’s rejection of the NSW list, expressing hope it would trigger a clean-up of the mess surrounding the issue.
“Hopefully, this will be the catalyst to move to re-form a proper pattern committee,” Aushorse chairman and Widden Stud owner Antony Thompson told ANZ.
“There’s a willingness from all participants to see it resolved. Hopefully that can happen shortly.
“It’s certainly a shame that there hasn’t been a black type committee for more than six years now, and we haven’t seen any races upgraded or downgraded in line with internationals expectations and standards.”
Thompson said there had been a “general frustration” from breeders over the issue.
“The impasse is with Racing Australia and it seems there’s very little the breeders can actually do about it,” he said.
However, he added more hopefully: “There seems to be a renewed sense of cooperation at that level. I’m sure with that renewed sense of cooperation we can see it resolved, and hopefully it will happen quickly. Racing Australia has been more receptive lately to overtures from breeders on this subject.”
Thompson said while buyers so far this year had appeared to take the black type controversy in their stride, factoring the faux upgrades into their yearling assessments, many ramifications from the debacle had arisen.
“There’s a lot of complications with it, such as when a horse is carrying a weight penalty going forward for winning a stakes race that wasn’t a stakes race,” he said.
“There’s commercial implications around that. Plus of course it affects the value of stock greatly, if they are stakes winners or not stakes winners.
“The catalogues aren’t showing [the 17] as stakes races at this stage. There’s probably no one who thinks they’ve bought a relation to a stakes winner who may not be, but it is very ambiguous, and needs to be clarified and sorted out quickly.
“Look at the Newgate stallion syndicate and North England. He’s won a two-year-old stakes race, or is it a stakes race? Does he get penalised for a stakes win going forward?
“All of that makes a significant difference to the value of the horse and to his stud career. And if you’re not a stakes winner, you don’t want to be going into other two-year-old races carrying a penalty for not winning a stakes race.
“He’s a great example of how confusing it is.”
Thoroughbred Breeders NSW president Hamish Esplin also welcomed the ARF’s decision.
“It stands to reason that the process whereby races are upgraded or downgraded, in accordance with the long-standing pattern rules in place in Australia, Asia and the world, would appear to be enforced properly,” he told ANZ.
“It was always ridiculous that one jurisdiction, NSW, could go out on its own and seek to upgrade races of their choosing without the agreement of other members of Racing Australia, and in effect conduct its own sub-jurisdictional black type racing.
“If that’s been called out for what it is – an incorrect process – that’s a good thing.”
Esplin said the latest developments showed again that the administration of racing in Australia needed a comprehensive overhaul.
“Like most of these administrative issues between the PRAs [Principal Racing Authorities] and Racing Australia that have occurred over the past decade, the participants learn of these developments, good or bad, in a completely ad hoc, informal way,” he said.
“We have no involvement at any level as to the administration, regulation or conduct of racing in this country.
“And the system set up by the PRAs operating through RA has been designed that way intentionally. It is designed to allow control to rest with, in effect, two PRAs who have been at odds with each other for a decade.
“The system is completely moribund, and reflects very poorly on those entities who consider themselves the proper administrators of this sport and the racing and breeding industries.
“They have let down the participants consistently, and I’m not aware of any attempt to improve the system.
“Rather than improve the system of registration and the ease and cost at which participants can lodge things like ownership forms, Racing Australia seems happy to be a victim of partisan politics involving the PRAs.”
Esplin said the black type fiasco had made Australia’s racing and breeding scene look “ridiculous”.
“The fact that an intending participant in the industry, such as someone who goes to a horse sale to buy a yearling, is handed a catalogue which does not reflect what the administrators at Racing NSW say is the actual grading of a race, is nothing short of ridiculous,” he said.
“In what other industry, especially one requiring significant capital such as racing, does the regulator and conductor of the marketplace so confuse its participants?
“I was bewildered when I first learnt of the issue last year, but not surprised.”
Esplin said the chief funders of the thoroughbred industry – punters – had been treated poorly, left to study formguides which now carry RA and RNSW’s categorisations of those of the 17 races run.
“How does one treat a race considered to be a Group race in NSW and allocate a rating to a horse, when in the world’s eyes it does not deserve that rating?” he said.
“It is a snub to those who follow racing and participate and enjoy the analysis that goes into racing form.
“From a breeders’ perspective it’s just staggering to think that you can be fortuitous enough to breed a horse good enough to win a race with prize-money like The Gong ($1m), only to find that in no catalogue in any country in the world in which your mare appears can you see black type against it, because the rest of the world says Racing NSW has got it wrong.”
New Zealand’s Little Avondale Stud has been impacted as the home of Per Incanto, sire of Gringotts and another “17” winner Belclare. That seven-year-old mare took Randwick’s The Invitation (1400m), which was declared upgraded from non-black type to Group 2.
The farm’s proprietor Sam Williams welcomed the latest developments – including the very fact that RA submitted their list.
“It’s great that they have gone down the path to try and get them acknowledged as black type races, but it will be interesting to see how long it takes to get this clarified and cleared up, and see what their response is going to be,” Williams told ANZ.
“It’s also interesting that the Asian authorities have said ‘no’.
“From everyone’s point of view, it’s disappointing that these black type races haven’t been approved, because then we’d all know where everyone stands.
“But the process is the process, and we’ll find out. But once again, everyone’s left in the lurch and it’d be nice to know, especially when you’ve got the biggest sale in Australasia coming up at Easter.”
Five yearlings by Per Incanto will be offered at Inglis Easter, two from Little Avondale’s draft.
Williams said after a handful of Australasian yearling sales since the debacle erupted, buyers had “got their heads around it”.
“Everyone is aware of the situation a lot more clearly now than when these races were announced as black type races,” he said. “They know how well Per Incanto’s going, so I don’t think this will affect the prices of his stock.
“But for a broodmare owner – say the owners of Gringotts’ dam Miss Bluebell – it has a lot more effect.”
Trainers’ and jockeys’ records have also been affected. Bjorn Baker has prepared the winners of three of the 15 races run, while two each have gone to Waterhouse and Bott, Ciaron Maher and Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald. Tim Clark and Tommy Berry have ridden three winners each, with Blake Shinn and Tyler Schiller taking two apiece.
How RNSW and RA respond to the ARF’s decision remains to be seen.
RA CEO Paul Eriksson said he had no comment to make when contacted by ANZ for this story.
While all Australian mainland states had planned to announce upgrades last spring, all apart from NSW abandoned those proposals after NSW jumped first in having their non-internationally ratified “upgrades” gazetted on RA’s official list of stakes races.
No mooted upgrades from states other than NSW were submitted by RA to the APC, ANZ understands.
The 15 out of the 17 that have already been run are:
October 12 – Rosehill
Tapp-Craig Stakes (1400m) – “upgraded” from non-black type to Listed
Winner: Anode (I Am Invincible – Stands at: Yarraman Park)
Breeder: Evergreen Rich
Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott
Jockey: Tim Clark
October 19 – Randwick
St Leger Stakes (2600m) – non-black type to Group 3
Athabascan (Almanzor – Cambridge Stud)
Breeder: Ecurie Peregrine (FR)
Trainer: John O’Shea and Tom Charlton
Jockey: Tommy Berry
Reginald Allen Quality (1400m) – Listed to Group 3
Aeliana (Castelvecchio – Arrowfield Stud)
Breeder: Nearco Stud & Rich Hill Thoroughbreds (NZ)
Trainer: Chris Waller
Jockey: James McDonald
Silver Eagle (1300m) – non black type to Group 3
Ostraka (Pariah – Oaklands Stud)
Breeder: Arrowfield
Trainer: Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald
Jockey: Blake Shinn
October 26 – Randwick
The Invitation (1400m) – non black type to Group 2
Belclare (Per Incanto – Little Avondale Stud)
Breeder: DK Woodhouse (NZ)
Trainer: Bjorn Baker
Jockey: Blake Shinn
The Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m) – non black type to Listed
Iknowastar (Star Witness – Widden Stud)
Breeder: Miller Thoroughbreds, et al
Trainer: Bjorn Baker
Jockey: Rachel King
November 2 – Rosehill
Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) – non black type to G3
Fawkner Park (Zoffany – deceased)
Breeder: Lisbrook – Ireland
Trainer: Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald
Jockey: Tyler Schiller
November 5 – Randwick
The Big Dance (1600m) – non black type to Listed
Gringotts (Per Incanto – Little Avondale Stud)
Breeder: Totara Park Stud – NZ
Trainer: Ciaron Maher
Jockey: Tommy Berry
November 9 – Rosehill
Inglis Golden Gift (1100m) – non black type to G3
North England (Farnan – Kia Ora Stud)
Breeder: Zhongli Thoroughbreds
Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott
Jockey: Tim Clark
Five Diamonds (1800m) – non black type to Listed
Pericles (Street Boss – Darley)
Breeder: Empyrean
Trainer: James Cummings
Jockey: Kerrin McEvoy
November 16 – Newcastle
The Hunter (1300m) – non black type to G2
Briasa (Smart Missile – Twin Hills Stud)
Breeder: Mr I Johnson
Trainer: Team Hawkes
Jockey: Tyler Schiller
The New Zealand Bloodstock Beauford (2300m) – non black type to Listed
Nikau Spur (Proisir – Rich Hill Stud)
Breeder: Hallmark Stud and Springvale Family Trust
Trainers: Corey and Kylie Geran
Jockey: Tim Clark
November 23 – Kembla Grange
The Gong (1600m) – non black type to G3
Gringotts (Per Incanto – Little Avondale Stud)
Breeder: Totara Park Stud
Trainer: Ciaron Maher
Jockey: Tommy Berry
The Warra (1000m) – non black type to G3
Headwall (Dream Ahead – standing in UK)
Breeders: Mr R Young, J & A Adam, B & N der Sarkissian, J Marsden
Trainer: Matthew Smith
Jockey: Blake Spriggs
February 22 – Rosehill
Parramatta Cup (1900m) – Listed to Group 3
Our Anchorage (Galileo – deceased)
Breeders: Barronstown Stud, Ireland
Trainer: Bjorn Baker
Jockey: Ashley Morgan
Still to run:
March 29 – Rosehill
Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) – G3 to G2
May 10 – Gosford
The Coast (1600m) – none black type to Listed