The Gr1 Festival Of Speed raceday at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday dished up some star performances.
Alesian Chief – upped to a 123 after his big victory on Saturday (Pic – Chase Liebenberg)
The National Horseracing Authority of SA handicappers have reported on the Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint and Gr1 SA Fillies Sprint merit rating assessments.
- Gr1 Golden Horse Sprint
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.
- Gr1 South African Fillies Sprint
CAPTAIN’S RANSOM (weighted to win) remains unchanged on a rating of 126 following her triumph on WFA terms in the Grade 1 South African Fillies Sprint over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Scottsville on Saturday.
Here it was 5th placed GALLIC PRINCESS who was considered to make for the most suitable line horse, leaving her unchanged on a rating of 115. In assessing the race this way, CAPTAIN’S RANSOM only runs to a mark of 119, hence her unaltered rating.
There were increases also for runner-up TRUE TO LIFE and 3rd placed SOUND OF WARNING, who both go up to 116 from 114 and 111, respectively. There were ratings increases also for FULL VELOCITY, who is up from 108 to 113, for CAPITANA, who goes from 106 to 109, and for MERCURY RISING, who was raised from 97 to her previous career best mark of 105.
MERCURY RISING in fact achieved a rating of 109, but the Handicappers were unwilling to take this literally given her overall career record.
The only ratings drop was for FAVORITA, who is down from 104 to 102.
- Media release by National Horseracing Authority on Tuesday 7 June 2022
