Australian racing faces black-type shake-up as key Pattern meeting looms

Australian racing will have a clearer picture of what its calendar of black-type races will look like next season and beyond when an international authority meets in early July.

The Asian Pattern Committee is set to assess a range of recommendations and suggestions from Australia’s recently formed independent Black Type Advisory Group (BTAG).

BTAG members Sebastian Hutch and Barry Bowditch of auction houses Inglis and Magic Millions respectively, alongside Godolphin Australia managing director Andy Makiv and Widden’s Antony Thompson have met at least once since the body was formed in March.

Other members of the advisory group are Arrowfield Stud’s Jon Freyer and experienced industry figures Adrian Hancock and Duncan Grimley.

The seven members of BTAG signed non-disclosure agreements once appointed to the independent body by Racing Australia, preventing them from publicly discussing the agendas and outcomes of their meetings.

BTAG members face a mountain of work in reaching consensus on potentially hundreds of stakes races that could be granted Listed or Group status or upgraded or downgraded, with their initial meeting lasting several hours. 

Their recommendations will be put to the Asian Pattern Committee, whose Australian representative is Racing Australia chair Rob Rorrison, with the early July meeting critical to reshaping the stagnant black type calendar.

The former Australian Pattern Committee, which made recommendations for the upgrade and downgrade of races, had not met since 2017/18 and the country’s black-type calendar had been in a state of flux ever since.

BTAG was established as an independent body after the Asian Racing Federation dramatically stripped Australia of its right to administer its stakes racing calendar after years of inaction and dysfunction from the country’s national body, Racing Australia.

The ARF had also threatened to downgrade Australia to a Part II country, a move that would have effectively put its Pattern races on the same international standing as racing jurisdictions such as Malaysia, India, Bahrain, and Korea, but ultimately stopped short of such a downgrade.

An attempt by Racing Australia to overhaul the process, with the implementation of proposed Black Type Guidelines, hit a hurdle in 2024, and attempts to rejuvenate the process last year also failed, principally because Racing Victoria and Racing NSW were unable to reach an agreement.

The two principal racing authorities hold the power of veto over Racing Australia.

The failure prompted ARF’s intervention late last year.

“This course of action has been adopted in circumstances where there has not been a properly functioning black type quality control system in Australia since as far back as 2017/18,” the ARF said in December. 

“While the ARF has been extremely patient and provided significant assistance to try to resolve this matter, it determined that action now had to be taken.

“The action to be undertaken by the APC, under the ARF’s authority, is intended only as a temporary measure.

“The ARF’s strong preference is that, as a Part I country, Australia establishes a functioning black-type quality control system operating in accordance with the APC Ground Rules in the near future, and for the above arrangements to end. 

“However, absent such resolution, the ARF will consider other actions that it may need to take.”

Asked this week about progress on the Asian Racing Federation’s development of a new-look Australian stakes racing calendar, the organisation declined to comment.

“Please note that it is the policy of the Asian Racing Federation that neither it nor its committees make any comment in response to media enquiries,” it said. 

“As such, no comment will be provided by the ARF or the APC on the Australian pattern matter.”

At the time of the significant December announcement, Rorrison acknowledged ARF’s intervention and accepted that further action could be taken by international authorities if Australia did not get its house in order.

Rorrison later told The Straight that he believed Australia’s black-type calendar of races could balloon by as much as 6 per cent once the Asian Pattern Committee assesses official ratings of Australian races that could either gain black type for the first time or be upgraded from Listed or Group status.

In March, when the formation of BTAG and its members were announced, Rorrison said: “Their independent view will undoubtedly be of great value to both the PRAs and the Asian Pattern Committee as they consider the composition of the Australian black type list.”