The National Horseracing Authority’s Handicappers acted in terms of the new guidelines when allotting 62kgs to the Weiho Marwing trained Mac De Lago for Saturday’s Peermont Emperors Palace Gr2 Charity Mile.
The NHA’s Manager of Handicapping, Roger Smith
“He won the Gr1 Rising Sun Gold Challenge (a weight-for-age race) and we just felt that the spread of weights and spirit of the handicap would be better served by allotting this Gr1 winner 62kgs, rather than 60kgs,” said Chief Handicapper Roger Smith, who added that consideration had to also be given to the proliferation of lighter weighted runners and suitable jockeys too.
Smith went on to add that the guidelines allowed the handicapper to allocate top weight of 62 kgs for a Gr2, 64kgs for a Gr3 and 66kgs for a Listed event if circumstances warranted it.
The minimum weight in all cases will be 52kgs.
On enquiry regarding The Conglomerate getting a 5 point penalty for winning the July (handicap with conditions), while Mac De Lago was penalised 7 points for his Gold Challenge (weight-for-age) success, Smith said that any comparison between these two would not be a case of apples versus apples.
