Racing: Criticism of handicapping mounts

New Zealand's chief handicapper Dean Nowell yesterday answered criticism of his handicapping and re-handicapping of the $200,000 City Of Auckland Cup at Ellerslie on January 1 and also ancillary races.

New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing's handicapping department has come under fire for the weighting of Counties and Waikato Cups winner Kerry O'Reilly, the raging favourite for the New Year's Day feature.

Kerry O'Reilly received a 1kg re-handicap for winning the $100,000 Waikato Gold Cup, lifting his Ellerslie weight to 55.5kg.

Critics say conversely, Lilakyn, who started favourite and finished last in Saturday's $80,000 Manawatu Cup, rose quickly to the top of the handicap after two significantly lesser wins and carried 57kg topweight on Saturday.

Lilakyn's trainer Guy Lowry has been critical of his mare's handicapping.

Nowell said there needs to be a clear understanding that re-handicapping and ratings are not the same thing.

"If the weights had not already been set for the City Of Auckland Cup, Kerry O'Reilly would have received more than 1kg for winning the Waikato Gold Cup," said Nowell.

"One of the important factors in raising him only 1kg was that the runner-up, Filante Etoile, who was just beaten, carried overweight and I could not re-handicap her.

"If you take into account the extra half a kilo that Filante Etoile carried at Te Rapa, which presumably she won't carry at Ellerslie, then the re-handicap, in effect, is 1.5kg."

Nowell said Lilakyn's 57kg Manawatu Cup handicap does not necessarily reflect her rating.

"What was I going to do - I have to start with a 58kg topweight in these races and the 58kg this time came out as Starbo, the Great Northern Hurdles winner."

Starbo started instead in the 1400m weight-for-age Higgins on the programme.

"The fact that the Great Northern Hurdles winner was topweight on the original weights points to it not being a field of enormous strength.

"If Lilakyn was weighted for the Wellington Cup tomorrow, clearly she'd get significantly less than the 57kg in a stronger list of nominations."

Nowell is personally not in favour of weighting races like the City Of Auckland so far out from the race.

"I know the reasons clubs do it, but it makes the handicapping too difficult."

The clear point is that whatever they pay handicappers and course managers, it's not enough.

All Square received a 1.5kg re-handicap for Saturday's win, taking him to 53.5kg and Te Rapa winner Pretorius copped 0.5kg re-handicap, making his Cup weight at Ellerslie 52.5kg.

Lisa Cropp will definitely ride All Square in the big Ellerslie race, despite understanding that she had intended riding Party, on whom she finished a close third to Kerry O'Reilly and Filante Etoile in the Waikato Cup.

All Square's trainer Gary Vile said the late-emerging stayer had done well out of a race that almost saw the rain-affected conditions bring him undone.

Overnight rain saw the Manawatu track posted as dead on Saturday morning and the weather stayed fine for the first half of the programme. Heavy rain just before the Cup tipped the footing over to be soft, although it was run on a track still officially rated as dead.

"That track was at the absolute end of what he can manage," said Vile. "Ten minutes more of that heavy rain and I reckon it would have beaten him."

Cropp, as she does so well, produced her almost unique blend of bullying and holding the horse's head together and managed to convince All Square to repel a very determined lunge from Empyreal.

Lilakyn tailed the field, but it was not indicative of her ability. The classy mare was hopeless in the conditions and rider Darryl Bradley allowed her to ease off before the home bend.

The only worrying factor is that in a race that did not lack pace, Lilakyn pulled unusually hard, possibly a sign she is starting to train off.

In finishing third, Kajema once again proved he is one of racing's luckless horses, but suggested that he needs only half a break to win a good race this summer.

Conditions made it difficult for leaders and the rain before the race did not suit Kajema's racing style.

The same weather at Te Rapa did not suit Pretorius either, but the former Australian-trained impressive stayer ground to a deserved win.

"He had to show a lot of heart," said a delighted trainer Jakki Good.

"I was pleased actually, because I wanted him to have a very hard race and that's what he had.

"He does almost too well between races - he bounces back from anything you throw at him and I was worried about the gap between this race and the City Of Auckland Cup to the point I was half-looking at maybe running him in the Zabeel Classic on Boxing Day. But that race will do him now."

TAB bookmakers slashed Pretorius's Cup odds from $10 to $7 and in the same race dropped All Square from $20 to $14.

Beaten runners on Saturday who had their Ellerslie odds lengthened included Cluden Creek, Madam Shinko and Kajema, all out to $35 from $25, and Arrerviderci, who is out to $30 from $25.

Impressive winner O'Borio came in from $20 to $14 for the Thorndon Mile and Black Panther had his $150,000 Great Northern Guineas odds cut from $2.25 hot favourite to $2.