Tony Peter star Main Defender remained unchanged on a rating of 121 after easily winning the Gr3 Betway Got The Greenlight Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein on Saturday, 13 January 2024.
Main Defender was best weighted and did not have to produce his very best to account for his rivals on Saturday.
Main Defender (Serino Moodley) beats Barbaresco (Gavin Lerena) in the feature (Pic – JC Photos)
The Africa House was deemed to make for the most suitable line horse here and his rating remained on 106.
The eye-catching Barbaresco, who produced a much-improved performance, may only be adjusted upwards by a maximum of 3 points in terms of the specific race conditions which prohibit the Handicappers from adjusting placed horses upwards by more than 3 points.
Accordingly, 2nd placed Barbaresco goes up to 94 from 91 and 3rd placed Hotarubi goes up to 98 from 95 even though both have performed to a significantly higher level. Consequently, these two horse’s merit ratings do not reflect their relative ability to one another after the running of this Grade 3 event, as 2nd placed Barbaresco is rated 4 points lower than 3rd placed Hotarubi who he beat by a little over 3 lengths at level weights here.
Only one horse received a drop in ratings in this race – Royal Edition was dropped to 85 from 88.
Mother Russia Stakes (Grade 3) – Formerly Three Troikas Stakes
Let’s Go Now has had her merit rating increased to 105 from 99 after winning the Grade 3 Mother Russia Stakes over 1400m at Turffontein on Saturday.
The runner-up, White Pearl, was deemed to make for the most suitable line horse in this event and her rating remained on 109.
The winner, Let’s Go Now, had to be capped to a rating of 105, despite winning this Grade 3 race and beating the 109 rated runner up at level weight terms, due to the specific race conditions that prohibit the Handicappers from increasing the ratings of the winner by more than 6 points and placed horses by more than 3 points. In fact, the ratings of majority of the runners in this event do not represent the pecking order of the finishers in this race due to these caps.
Mia Moo was capped to a rating of 90 despite running 3rd and easily beating 4th placed Lady Fallon who has been adjusted to 97 from 94, both these fillies ran to higher than their current official ratings.
5th placed Garlandsofgreenery also performed to a higher rating but could not be adjusted upwards and remains on a rating of 91, which is actually higher than the new rating of the 3rd placed Mia Moo who is now rated 90.
Only two fillies received a drop in ratings here, Betula was dropped from 100 to 98 while Key Element was dropped from 98 to 96.
Important Note to all stakeholders: Due to the significant number of Merit Rating restrictions, as mentioned above, the Handicappers urge caution when observing the best weighted columns for the upcoming 3-year-old races (Triple /Tiara etc.), as some ratings do not represent the Handicappers assessment due to the arbitrary merit rating restrictions imposed on the Handicapping system.
Wolf Power 1600 (Listed)
Silver Hills had her rating adjusted to 102 from 100 after narrowly winning the Listed Wolf Power 1600 run over 1600m at Turffontein on Saturday.
Silver Hills (Serino Moodley) upstages the males to register her maiden stakes success (Pic – JC Photos)
Silent War was deemed the most suitable line horse here leaving him unchanged on a rating of 99. The runner up Unzen received a 1-point adjustment from 104 to 105 and no other horse was given an increase in ratings for this event.
The following horses received drops in ratings, Willow’s Wish was dropped from 96 to 94, Shoemaker was dropped from 111 to 109, Pyromaniac was dropped to 101 from 104 while all of Hoedspruit, Brave Viking and Another Level were given drops of 1 point each from 110 to 109, 90 to 89 and 98 to 97 respectively.
Summer Fling Stakes (Grade 3) Formerly Final Fling Stakes
The best weighted Hold My Hand remained on a rating of 108 after landing the Grade 3 Summer Fling Stakes over 2000m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Saturday.
Virginia Sweet was the line horse here and her rating remained unchanged on 96.
Future Girl was capped to a rating of 96 from 90 despite performing to higher due to the specific race conditions that prohibit the Handicappers from adjusting the placed runners by more than 6 points. Broadway Girl received a 1-point adjustment from 88 to 89, this makes her correct with the runner up Future Girl who is rated 96 and who beat Broadway Girl by 2 lengths while conceding 1.5kg in weight.
Silverlinks received a drop of 1 point from 95 to 94 while Royal Invitation was dropped to 90 from 95 after failing to confirm her previous run in the Gr3 Victress Stakes.
Lady’s Bracelet (Listed)
Gold Poker Game received a 1-point adjustment from 107 to 108 after winning the Listed Lady’s Bracelet at Fairview over 1600m on Friday.
The Handicappers opted to use And We Danced as the line horse here and she remained on a rating of 103. The runner-up Luna Halo received a 3 points adjustment from 103 to 106, which is 3 points higher than And We Danced who she beat here at WFA terms.
Only two other horses received increases to their ratings in this event, Official Secret, who was rated to run 12th in the 14-runner field on a rating of 78, was adjusted from 78 to 92 after outperforming her pre-rating.
She actually performs to higher than 92 but was made 1 point higher than 5th placed Public Benefit who remained on 91 and who she beat by a neck at WFA terms here. Unyielding was only given an adjustment, from 76 to 83 despite performing to significantly higher at these weight terms. This ensures that Unyielding meets Opera Swing, who she beat here, on correct handicapping terms in the future.
Three horses received drops to their ratings in this event, Medlers Tart was dropped to 94 from 96, Sister Light was dropped to 86 from 88 and Flame Flower to 78 from 81.
Media release by NHA on Tuesday 16 January 2024.
