Go to Villagebet.com.au for free horse racing tips - Click here now |
|
Interesting read (On Group racing) |
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Author | |||
Afros
Champion Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Status: Offline Points: 15478 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Posted: 17 Aug 2022 at 7:12am |
||
Only a Group 2: Sapporo Kinen provides ideal balance for Sodashi and co – Asian Racing Report
A really good article this one, makes some good points around races like the Warwick Stakes, Memsie, Makybe Diva, Canterbury Stakes and perhaps a few others that have been promoted in recent times. I've often joked, how long until the Sir John Monash and Bletchingly Stakes are raced at Group 1 level? Because it seems this is how our system works.
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
If the Memsie Stakes, for example, has the same classification as the Cox Plate or QE2, and the Everest doesn't have any classification, what the hell is the purpose of classifications?
|
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
jacko1
Champion Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Status: Offline Points: 1801 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
The Memsie is open entry. If you start giving restricted races like the Everest, Magic Millions races Group 1 status you change the whole sport. What's to stop a stable or owner putting on races restricted to just their horses and collecting the black type?
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
A classification is so you can compare the quality of a race with other races isn't it? That's what I thought the purpose was. It wouldn't matter to me if the sheik of scrubby creek had a race just for his own horses. You assess the quality of the horses, at the distance of the race, then you give the race a classification.
|
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
djebel
Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 53960 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
The Everest is open entry, if your horse is good enough.
|
|||
reductio ad absurdum
|
|||
Carioca
Champion Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21824 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
The disappearance of the Warwick Stakes irks me ( now Winx ) , every Gr. race is named after something memorable ( animal, veg. mineral or person , looking at the race since its inception , the first being the Great Amounis who beat a not too shabby Phar Lap , Bernborough , Tulloch, Sunline etc. other winners toonumerous to name , Winx should've had her own race named after Her , not delete this ( one of only two recognised Principal Races ) that signals the opening of the Randwick Spring carnival , by two , I mean the only two Sprints of note .
|
|||
Red Rancher
Champion Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Location: Sydney Status: Offline Points: 747 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Aus Group 1s are like confetti.
|
|||
Afros
Champion Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Status: Offline Points: 15478 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
I think it is just a case that Group classifications are driven by the breeders in this country rather than in the interests of determining the best horses.
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
There is a page of the Errorgraph on this subject today. Dom Beirne makes some valid points. Of course he does - he agrees with me. He's brilliant. In Australia just over 3% of all races have stakes status. Of this 3%, 12% are Group 1. About 1/60th of NSW and Victorian races are G1. In Australia there are 3 times as many G1s per race as there are in Japan. "Breeders would be the first to acknowledge the difference between the pedigree page of a mare that wins the Australian oaks in Adelaide compared to one that wins the Cox Plate or QE Stakes. So the plethora of G1s doesn't trick anyone." The case against the Everest and All Star Mile being G1 because they are restricted is flawed, says Beirne, "Other G1 races are restricted by age, gender or both." |
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
furious
Champion Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Status: Offline Points: 25171 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
This comes up time and time again. Do any of you know how big our industry is?
We breed more foals than any country other than the USA. This is a global industry and our horses do have sires and broodmares on the ground in other countries also. We have more races than any country other than the USA. We have 18,940 races listed for 2021 season to Englands 6,531 and Irelands 1,424 or NZ's 2374. USA tops the list at 33,430 races and Japan is third with 16,094. Doesn't matter which country other than England's figure the rest are below 5,000 and most below 3,000 races. Now we get to G1 races Australia sits at 0.4% England at 0.7% Ireland at 1.1% NZ at 1% Argentina at 1.2% Hong Kong at 1.5% Germany at 0.8% South Africa at 1% and USA at 0.3% Japan at 0.2% Now you must agree those figures are all over the place but we are not over pushing numbers of races to G1 races or horses to G1 races or starters to G1 races or anything like that. We are trying to stand with the world and give our horses the best ratings they can get. We have tough stakes races on the whole compared to many G1's I have to download or type up from around the world. Some overseas have pacemakers. Others can have very few starters. Yes G1 races have very different results. But a G1 race which you think wasn't strong one season comes out the next and throws up a great result. And it's no good comparing us to Japan. Japan has fewer stakes races 1.4% than the rest of the world. UAE has 22.1% or it's races as stakes races and you can't blame that on the breeders. Germany has 8.7%, Ireland 8.9%, Brazil 7.1%, NZ 6.2%, SAfr 5.6% France 4.8%, GB 4.5% even HK 4.1% and USA 4.2% have more stakes races percentage wise than Australia's 3.2% (once again 2020/21 season) So we are wanting to sell our horses (like NZ) we trade mainly with Asia. But unlike NZ we have a poor attitude to selling our horses Australia wide. The only way Asia will continue to believe we breed good horses (apart from the many stakes races they win) is us having stakes quality horses. With sush a big amount of horses to begin with few actually have a chance to start in let alone win a stakes race. So while the Winx or the Memsie might come early in the season it doesn't mean that they don't have better fields and results than many other G1's throughout the world.
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
So what if we breed more horses? Does quantity automatically correlate with quality? China and India should win most of the Nobel prizes then.
|
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
jacko1
Champion Joined: 26 Jun 2007 Status: Offline Points: 1801 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
The Winx Stakes has talented horses, but 9 of the 11 are fresh up and aiming to peak in races months away. What's changed that when Super Impose, Kingston Town and Sunline were winning the race it was a only G2 but now it justifies being a G1?
One explanation: The structure was broken long before we got elite races like The Everest. It was started when Racing Victoria pushed for upgrades to races around 2007 to group 1 status based on ratings. It moved the goalposts on the pattern into a black-and-white measure where those with self-interest wanting more group races at the highest level got their way. It led to the denigration of the pattern and the mess it has become. |
|||
Jamal
Champion Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Status: Offline Points: 8680 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Winx Stakes should never be a G1
|
|||
Afros
Champion Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Status: Offline Points: 15478 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
My problem isn't with the number of G1 races run in Australia, it is with the timing of them. Clashes of similar races such as:
Flight Stakes and Thousand Guineas, the only mile G1 races for 3yo fillies, run anywhere from 7-10 days apart. Randwick and Australian Guineas, plus the Surround, all run within a fortnight of each other. The run starting this week with the Winx, continuing next week with the Memsie and containing races like the Makybe Diva, George Main, Underood, plus G2 events like the Lawrence, Dato Tan and Chelmsofrd, all events of similar distance at WFA. etc, etc.
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Chicken and egg. The more of them the more clashes.
|
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
djebel
Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 53960 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
We need a whole remake of our "pattern" so there is in fact a pattern. Group racing, making up that pattern should take place between September and May with all the group races spread out evenly in their distance range over that period. If we started by demoting all Moonee Valley group 1 races and took group status off all handicaps all of a sudden we have a more workable number of races to work with. This will never be done because we are not honest with ourselves. Self interest and postcodes play too big a role in our emotions. |
|||
reductio ad absurdum
|
|||
Carioca
Champion Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21824 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Don't know about " our emotions " but you've certainly shown your damned Bias ! for a start , you hate Moonee Valley , and you have NO time for handicaps , your forgetting one thing , this is Australia , not the f....King U.K., or Europe .
|
|||
djebel
Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 53960 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
If you are going to do things right than do them right. Handicaps, in nobodies language are championship races. |
|||
reductio ad absurdum
|
|||
djebel
Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 53960 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
I have plenty of time for handicaps, I LOVE HANDICAPS they simply have no place as group races. If you are fair dinkum. |
|||
reductio ad absurdum
|
|||
djebel
Premium Joined: 07 Mar 2007 Status: Offline Points: 53960 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
The follow up https://asianracingreport.com/comment-target-50-what-an-australian-racing-calendar-looks-like-with-24-fewer-group-1s/COMMENT | Target 50: What an Australian racing calendar looks like with 24 fewer Group 1sAhead of the first of 74 Group 1s this season, it is clear that there are too many Australian races run at the elite level. So what does the Group 1 calendar look like cut back to 50? The Australian calendar is overgrown with supposedly elite races, so let’s get the slasher out and cut back the weeds to promote the premium crop. What does an Australian racing calendar look like with 50 Group 1 races instead of 74? The initial establishment of the international pattern in the 1970s described Group 1 races as ‘Classic and other races of championship standard having major international importance.’ Therefore the criteria that is most important when wielding a scythe through the Australian Group 1 calendar is that they must be ‘championship races’. That is, they must be the best race for their category (age, sex, conditions) in that distance range at that time of year. We have gone through each category/distance range of races and come up with the races we think should stay and the ones that should be demoted in this 50-race scenario. Two-Year-Old RacesThere are five two-year old Group 1 races in Australia, spread across the autumn/winter. Four of the five fit the category of ‘championship races’ in that their geography and timing help determine the best two-year-olds in Australia. The question is whether there is enough of a differentiation between the Sires and the Champagne in Sydney. The Champagne Stakes misses the cut as there is a question if it is a genuine championship race in its own right at that time of year. Because of its timing and geography, the 1600-metre JJ Atkins Stakes in Brisbane deserves to stand alone as the mile two-year-old championship. Demote: Champagne Stakes Three-Year-Old RacesThere are 19 currently Group 1 races for three-year-olds. Given Australia’s disposition for speed, it is surprising that there are just three Group 1 three-year-old races below 1600 metres, all three of which have been upgraded in the past 17 years. Two of those races, the Coolmore Stud Stakes and the Golden Rose, have become the dominant breed-shaping races in the country. The third is the Surround Stakes for the fillies. Its position at the start of the Sydney autumn makes it a pathway race, not a championship race, making it a natural to cut. In this case, the option the ATC could consider is moving the Flight Stakes – held very close to the Thousand Guineas, a race of the exact same Group One format (1600m for fillies) – to the autumn, giving a fillies championship race at each time of the year. The other ridiculous clash between Sydney and Melbourne in the three-year-old ranks is the Australian and Randwick Guineas. One of the two has to go. Then we get to the Derbies and Oaks, which are an historical anachronism whose importance has been undermined further by the ‘internationalisation’ of Australia’s great staying handicaps. Winners of Derbies and Oaks would once become Cup contenders, now most become spring feature seat-fillers as the Cup’s red carpet is rolled out to overseas visitors. The Derbies and Oaks in Melbourne and Sydney remain, although the ‘championship’ aspect of the Victoria Derby and Oaks would certainly be enhanced by reducing them back to 2000 metres. Only two of the South Australian and Queensland classics can make the cut. Perhaps the option for those states is to stage one Group 1 staying race for three-year-olds each, making a feature 3YO Classic championship encompassing both sexes. Demote: Surround Stakes or Flight Stakes, Randwick or Australian Guineas, Australasian Oaks or South Australian Derby, Queensland Oaks or Queensland Derby Net: Minus four Filles and Mares RacesThere are five Group 1 races specifically for fillies and mares in Australia. To reduce numbers, you would demote the Robert Sangster, which has been a Group 1 race since 2005, but it has been historically the weaker of the two end-of-season Group 1 mares races, the other being the Tatts Tiara. In a reduced Group 1 calendar with fewer elite races, one of the two would have to be sacrificed. The Sydney autumn hosts two Group 1 races for fillies and mares over similar distances and that means one or the other doesn’t fit into the ‘championship’ criteria befitting a Group 1 race. The Coolmore Classic or the Queen Of The Turf may have been useful for stuffing pedigree pages over the years, but they lack a clear distinction and one needs to go: Demote: Robert Sangster Stakes and the Coolmore Classic or the Queen Of The Turf Net: Minus two Open Age Sprint RacesThere are 14 Group 1 races contested in open company between 1000 metres and 1300 metres in Australia each year. While Australian sprint racing is the envy of the world, that is far too many to retain the elite nature intended for the status. First of all, we’d have to upgrade The Everest. Then there are three other sprints which clearly fit the Championship criteria, the VRC Sprint Classic (now the Champions Sprint), the Newmarket Hcp and the TJ Smith. Of the rest, in order to clear out the calendar, five would need to make way. The first to go would be the Moir Stakes at Moonee Valley. It is a lead-in race for the Manikato. The Canterbury Stakes, over 1300 metres early in the Sydney autumn is another one which doesn’t fit that criteria and it was only upgraded in 2013. The William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley is an afterthought to the triple crown of Melbourne Group 1 sprints while the Kingsford-Smith Cup in Brisbane is the third best sprint race in the state, well short of ‘Championship’ status. This is where the cut gets harder. You either have to demote the Doomben 10,000 or The Goodwood, both historically important sprints. It’s a close call, but the Doomben 10,000 would be most in danger as Queensland already has a feature winter sprint, the Stradbroke (although it is over 1400 metres). Demote: Moir Stakes, the Canterbury Stakes, the William Reid Stakes, the Kingsford Smith-Cup, one of the Doomben 10,000 or The Goodwood Promote: The Everest Net: Minus four Open Age 1400m-1600m RacesThere is a glut of these races in the distance range on the calendar which have benefited from needless upgrades in the past 20 years. Overall there are 15 Group 1 races staged for open aged horses in this distance range at either handicap or weight-for-age conditions. You’d first put a quick pen through any race which is a kick-off for a campaign. That rules out the Winx Stakes and the Orr Stakes, while one of the Memsie or the Sir Rupert Clarke should be demoted under this criteria. You could shift the Memsie to an end of spring weight-for-age championship Group 1 over 1400 metres. Early-campaign 1600-metre Group 1 races such as the Makybe Diva and Chipping Norton also fall short of the mark as does the G1 Futurity, which lacks relevance. Cutting deeper and the George Main and the George Ryder are both historically wonderful races, but one of them needs to make way. The George Ryder being staged in the Sydney autumn probably gives its clearer air, especially with the Chipping Norton gone. The Melbourne spring handicap the Toorak is another which doesn’t fit the elite category, while the Cantala/Championship Mile has struggled for identity in recent years. The one addition would be the elevation of the All-Star Mile as Victoria’s premier autumn mile race. Demote: Winx Stakes, Orr Stakes, Memsie or Rupert Clarke Stakes, the Futurity, Makybe Diva Stakes, Chipping Norton Stakes, George Main or George Ryder, Toorak Handicap, Cantala/Champions Mile Promote: All-Star Mile Net: Minus eight Open Age 1800m-2040m RacesThere are 10 Group 1 races staged for open-age horses in Australia over this distance and four of them would need to make way to make the necessary room. The Kingston Town Classic in Perth, run over 1800 metres at weight-for-age, has historically been won by some important horses, but has dropped in quality and given it is staged two weeks after the Railway Stakes, a handicap over 1600 metres, it can’t be genuinely considered a championship. Melbourne has several Group 1 races in this spot in the spring and the Underwood Stakes would have to be demoted. It is a pathway, not a lead-in, as is the Ranvet in Sydney, which too would need to make way. The Doomben Cup may be the best weight-for-age 2000-metre race in Queensland, but it doesn’t stand up as a championship quality race in a reduced calendar. Demote: Kingston Town/Northerly Classic, Underwood Stakes, Ranvet Stakes, Doomben Cup Net: Minus four Open Age 2400m-3200m RacesThere are five Group 1 races staged in the staying range in Australia, and this is the area where the depth of local horses is the weakest. The Melbourne Cup and Sydney Cups are staying championships in their respective times of year and the Caulfield Cup is a historically great race, and the best 2400-metre race in Australia. That leaves us with two others under question. The Metropolitan Hcp can not retain its status under the stricter criteria, while the Tancred Stakes stays in, just, although there is an argument that the Queen Elizabeth Stakes has become the championship weight for age race of the Sydney spring. Demote: Metropolitan Handicap Net: Minus one |
|||
reductio ad absurdum
|
|||
Tlazolteotl
Champion Joined: 02 Oct 2012 Location: Elephant Butte Status: Offline Points: 31422 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Djebel is right on handicaps.
|
|||
An honest politician is one who when he is bought will stay bought.
Simon Cameron |
|||
furious
Champion Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Status: Offline Points: 25171 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
||
I disagree with the above in so many ways. I've seen Irish Derbies and French Derbies that are worst than some of our Derbies. Yes England only has two Oaks but add in Ireland, French German etc and the numbers grow. And guess what we are more like an enlarged Europe than just a single country.
We have five distinct main groups of horses in NSW, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. And yes the G1 status isn't the same for each state but there have been a number of G1 winners out or Qld, SA and WA Oaks and Derbies lead by Winx who say class is not only just in the NSW & Victorian races. To knock out 1400m to 1600m races is taking an enormous chunk out of a bigger pool of our horses than will every meet and race over 2400m to 3200m. We've had many stakes placed in one of these type of races or even shorter and definately not the winner who then go on to be champions in Asia. So the G1 races in HK are worth more than the Australian one which they couldn't even win! We have Wester Australian horses come and win G1's in the east on a regular basis and yet of their three chances for G1 glory you'd take one away. THe vast majority don't travel they are isolated yes but better than most over here give them credit for. There will always be weak and strong races in the same race over different year. But until the race is run who knows. The chances of another Winx coming from the Queensland Oaks is small but who is to say it can't happen for a late maturing filly. So no I disagree and wish you'd all look at the bigger picture. This world of the thoroughbred is one which takes in the whole world. So yesterday we saw a daughter of I am Invincible win by 3 3/4 lengths over 5f in England. In another race an Exceed and Excel won over 1m 1/2f by 1 3/4 len. The day before saw a Zoustar, Epaulette, Pride of Dubai and a Brazen Beau (our of an Exceed and Excel mare) winning. I do agree some timing issues need to be sanded out but NSW and Victoria are always trying to outdo each other and make it almost impossible for this to happen. And you can't blame the breeders for that.
|
|||
Afros
Champion Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Status: Offline Points: 15478 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
If you are going to do things right then WFA shouldn't be allowed for championship races either, let's be honest it is just handicapping based on age and gender rather than on previous performance/ability. Even the females competing in an open event should be carrying level weights as should the 3yos. Where do we draw the line?
|
|||
Majestic
Champion Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Location: NSW Status: Offline Points: 1303 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
djebel, I agree with most of your proposed rearrangement of pattern racing at the top level. BUT all your demoted races will become Gp2 races and would thus clog the calendar. You will need to demote some Gp2 races to Gp3, then demote some Gp3 race# to Listed. Then “black type” for breeders would be easier to achieve.
Again BUT, to even get a committee together to put any of these ideas in place, an Australian Racing Body would need to be very carefully selected/elected to diffuse RV and V’Landis egotistical pushes for their own agenda. |
|||
Jamal
Champion Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Status: Offline Points: 8680 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
100 per cent agree. Australian racing needs a total reset. Far....FAR too many G1 races and the timing of some of them (plus these pop up rich races) means the best dont always meet. Why is for example the Moir a G1? Should be a G2. Why is the Winx Stakes a G1...should be a G2. The list goes on and on. Its a farce seriously.
|
|||
Jamal
Champion Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Status: Offline Points: 8680 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
But WFA racing is the truest test for a horse. How many G1's in Europe or a Japan do you see as handicaps? Its an Australian, NZ and Sth African novelty. Having said - handicaps do attract big betting interest.
|
|||
furious
Champion Joined: 19 Feb 2007 Status: Offline Points: 25171 |
Post Options
Thanks(1)
|
||
THey have the handicaps overseas usually non black type but sometimes worth more than a stakes event on the day. And yes they also get the big fields.
|
|||
Afros
Champion Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Status: Offline Points: 15478 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
If a 14 year old, or a female, competes in the US open golf, do they get relief based on age or gender?
|
|||
Jamal
Champion Joined: 25 Jul 2011 Status: Offline Points: 8680 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Carioca
Champion Joined: 13 Nov 2015 Status: Offline Points: 21824 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
|
||
Why don't you go into a syndicate Jamal , doesn't matter if you just own a hair on its tail , if it gets to the races and happens to win one of those " novelty type " races , you may find a new perspective on what " Novelty " means , just saying .
|
|||
Post Reply | Page 123> |
Tweet |
Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |