By MIKE DILLON
New Zealand thoroughbred racing has taken a huge step forward with the introduction of a system which will allow horses to drop back in class.
From August 1 horses who have not won a race in 10 starts, or in the previous 12 months, will automatically drop back a class.
And in a total revamp of the system, those classes have been dramatically altered.
The old schedule of Class 1 to Class 4 has been replaced with Intermediate (0-1 win), Progressive (0-4 wins) then open class.
Graduation open races have been dropped.
This is a major move to try to provide more opportunities for our horses to race at a suitable level, thereby stemming the flow of horses being sold to lucrative overseas markets.
"Underlying the change is the need to better ultilise the available horse population," said New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing chief executive Allan Fenwick.
"There will be additional opportunities for more horses to race more often as well as encouragement for fillies and mares to be raced in New Zealand."
The major changes:
* Replacement of the C1 to C4 system with the introduction of an Intermediate Grade and Progressive Grade.
* A drop back provision that will allow a horse currently in Class 2 which has not won a race in its last 10 starts, or 12 months, to drop back to Intermediate Grade (1 win) and for Open horses that similarly have not won in 10 starts or for the last 12 months to drop back to Progressive Grade.
* Mandatory sex allowance of 1.5kg for fillies and mares in all set weight 2-year-old and 3-year-old races, maiden races and Intermediate races.
* A mandatory age allowance for 3-year-olds in all maiden and Intermediate set weight races. The age allowance being, August to October 1.5kg, November to January 1kg, February to April 0.5kg.
* Removal of the present Graduation Open class.
* The minimum topweight for all handicap races, other than those restricted to 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds, to be reduced from 58kg to 57kg.
* Trials will be continued to be regulated on a regional basis. The possibility of increasing trial fees by way of a levy which could be used to fund race stakesmoney will not occur.
That last point is important. There have been strong moves to introduce a trials levy in order to discourage owners and trainers from using barrier trials to sell horses overseas without racing in New Zealand.
Racing: Struggling horses allowed to step back
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