Ace Antonius wins the KZN Yearling Sale million
Stakes earned by horses competing in restricted races are to be excluded from the national statistics for stallions and breeders. This was announced today by the National Horseracing Authority following approaches from sectors of the industry.
Restricted race stakes will be included for owners, trainers and jockeys. The same rule applies to bonuses linked to all sales and will become effective on 1 August 2013.
In making the announcement, the NHA have defined restricted races as those in which participants are confined:
(a) to horses born or raised in a particular area or are the progeny of stallions of a particular area, or
(b) to graduates of specific sales, or
(c) to horses selected on the basis of some arbitrary criteria.
The NHA says that it took account of the fact that the number of restricted races and the stakes in these races have increased substantially.
This prompted the formulation of a policy to apply to the stakes earned in restricted races.
The decision to exclude such stakes from the stallion and breeder statistics was motivated, in the main, by the prospect that such races might substantially influence the log position of stallions and breeders.
As breeders can and sometimes do “create” or sponsor such races, they may thereby even dictate the outcome of the breeder and stallion championship. This would be particularly so if a stud farm were to stage a race of extraordinary value, restricted to horses which it had bred. It would be plainly undesirable to include the stakes of such a race in the stallion and breeder statistics.
The decision to include such stakes in the owner, trainer and jockey statistics was mainly motivated by the consideration that all owners and trainers are at liberty to buy and compete where they want to.
Added bonuses and restricted races are driven by marketing considerations. To exclude these races from the owner and trainer statistics would be a disincentive to investments in thoroughbreds. Such a consequence would be harmful to the racing industry and should be avoided. Jockeys are at liberty to accept engagements as and where they wish and it seems self-evident that restricted races should be included in the jockey statistics.
The NHA had considered the approaches adopted in other major racing jurisdictions.
They found no pattern or consistency and no useful guideline emerged from the analysis. The issue was accordingly approached on principle, rather than on precedent or foreign example.
