One Fell Swoop goes up to 104 (Pic – JC Photos)
The Tony Peter-trained One Fell Swoop was gifted her second successive Gr3 win at Turffontein on Saturday win due to the Merit Rating protection she received in the Listed Swallow Stakes.
The Lancaster Bomber filly was well-treated in the Handicap courtesy of the Racing Operator, and almost certainly denied White Pearl her first Graded Stakes win.
So suggest the NHA handicappers who report further in a media release published on 19 March 2024 that One Fell Swoop has had her rating adjusted to 104 from 99 after winning the Betway Gr3 Sycamore Sprint over 1160m on the Turffontein Standside Track on Saturday.
The Handicappers were of the opinion that fourth-placed In The Beginning made for the most suitable line horse here and her rating remain unchanged on 94.
The winner aside, two more runners received upward adjustments in their ratings. Runner up, White Pearl, was adjusted to 112 from 109 and third placed, Good Queen Bess, goes up to 97 from 94 after both finished 1.50 and 1.25 lengths respectively, ahead of the line horse.
No fewer than four runners received drops in ratings.
Platina Princess is down to 93 from a mark of 95,Alula’s Star drops to 107 from 108 and Flowerbomb is down to 100 from 101. Lastly, Gimmealight drops two pounds from 83 to 81.
It should be noted that One Fell Swoop ran to a considerably higher rating in her previous run in the Betway Swallow Stakes, but her increase had to be capped.
See excerpt from the Betway Swallow Stakes press release:
One Fell Swoop was only increased by 3 points from 96 to 99 despite running to a considerably higher level here due to the specific race conditions that state that placed horses may only receive a maximum adjustment of 3 points. This means that One Fell Swoop will benefit from a 4,5kg swing at the weights with Troppo Veloce for a 0.10 of a length beating, and a 3,5kg swing at the weights with Cullinan Blue who she beat here, should they meet on Handicap terms in the future.
