Robin Bruss Chairman, Graded Stakes Committee
In a press release issued on 10 June 2014, the NHA released a copy of the background and proceedings to the NHA Workshop on the Merit Ratings Handicapping System and invites comment from stakeholders.
The purpose of the Workshop was to commence a review of the Merit Rating Handicapping System and consider its aims, objectives and philosophy and if, in the 16 years since its inception, it is appropriately fulfilling the intended purposes or if the purpose itself requires widening.
The Workshop brought forth a variety of views, but was by no means exhaustive given the breadth and scope of a subject which goes to the heart of the way in which races are framed and the outcomes of races determined by the allocation of weight, thereby affecting the capacity of horses to win and all those involved within the racing and breeding industry to earn. As a consequence, the importance of the system concerns all of us in racing.
The report was presented to the National Board of the NHA on 24 April 2014 who approved its release to the racing community for consideration. Subsequent to the Workshop and Board meeting, the senior handicapper recently compiled a proposal which considers the abolition of the WFA scale in domestic ratings. This document has yet to be discussed, but will form part of the deliberations and is included for public comment as a separate Annexure.
In order to be certain of providing an opportunity for further and more complete evaluation before determining findings and recommendations, The National Horseracing Authority INVITES informed comment from all stakeholders who wish to make a submission, either in writing, or by email, or by oral presentation.
Submissions should be sent for the attention of Mr David McGillivray, Racing Control Executive, by 30 June 2014.
Also to be considered are the comments of the Asian Pattern Committee which met at the recent Asian Racing Conference in Hong Kong in regard to the application of domestic ratings to the development of internationally recognised Graded Races.
Once all submissions have been received, a subcommittee will then be convened to review and consider the detail and produce findings and recommendations to the Board for possible implementation in 2015.
To obtain the minutes of the NHA Workshop on the Merit Rating Handicapping System, click here (This document is 25 kb)
To obtain the anexures to the above document, click here (This document is 9Mb)
To obtain a copy of the proposed changes to the weight for age scale, click here (This document is 1 Mb)
Robin Bruss
Chairman, Graded Races Committee
