Futura is on the fringes
A furore that has been brewing over the Vodacom Durban July weights looks likely to be decided on the interpretation of terminology within the conditions of the country’s premier race.
Gold Circle and the NHRA will claim that they have followed the procedures pertaining to the weights correctly according to these conditions.
The NHRA handicappers initially set the weights with the merit rated 118 Yorker as topweight.
This set of weights was placed on to the sahorseracing website at roundabout lunchtime on Tuesday, June 10.
However, Gold Circle and the NHRA will claim that these weights were not “issued for publication”. In other words they were not sent out via a press release and officially released into the public domain.
Yorker, who is four merit rated points higher, and was therefore set 2kg more than the second topweight King Of Pain, was scratched at 13:42. The NHRA then re-handicapped the race with King Of Pain as topweight.
The latter set of weights was issued for publication at 14:50 on Tuesday, June 10, via means of a press release sent out by Gold Circle’s Public Relations Officer, Gill Simpkins.
However, there are some who are claiming that because the initial set of weights were available for viewing on the sahorseracing website, point 5 of the conditions of the July should have been adhered to.
Points 1 to 5 of the conditions state:
1. The weights to be carried shall not exceed 60kg and shall not be less than 52kg.
2. Minimum weight for 4-year-olds and older: Colts and Geldings 53kg Fillies and Mares 52kg
Maximum weight for 4-year and older at publication of weights: Colts and Geldings 60kg Fillies and Mares 59kg
3. Minimum weight for 3-year-olds: Colts and Geldings 53kg Fillies 52kg
Maximum weight for 3-year-olds at publication of weights: Colts and Geldings 57kg Fillies and Mares 56kg
4. No penalties shall be incurred after the publication of weights.
5. Notwithstanding 2 and 3 above, the Handicapper will raise all weights proportionately to 60kg. should the top weight originally allotted be less than 60kg at final declaration.
Two other relevant statements in the conditions are:
Weights Published: Tuesday, 10 June
Final Declaration: Close 11:00 Monday, 23 June ��” R28 500 (Refunded if not selected to run)
Captain America is one of the 3yo’s
If the complainants are correct, the NHRA would not have been entitled to re-handicap the race and the three-year-olds Captain America and Futura would have instead been dragged upwards 2kg to 55kg. Their weights relative to the three most prominent three-year-olds in the race would have then remained the same, as they would have had to carry 1kg less than the race favourite Legislate and 0,5kg less than the strongly fancied pair Louis The King and Rake’s Chestnut .
Instead, after re-handicapping, Captain America only went up by 1kg to 54kg and Futura remained on 53kg, while Legislate, Louis The King and Rake’s Chestnut all went up by 2kg.
This means that Captain America and Futura will receive 2kg and 3kg respectively from Legislate and 1,5kg and 2,5 kg respectively from both Louis The King and Rake’s Chestnut, a significant difference to the relative weights when Yorker was still in the field.
Of the horses mentioned above Futura is still a borderline case to make the final field and two other horses on the cusp that would have benefitted from the re-handicapping are the Sansui Summer Cup runner up Master Sabina and the Lonsdale Stirrup Cup winner Wild One, who both remained on 53kg respectively.
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