International and interstate disenchantment about Racing NSW’s plethora of spring black type race upgrades hasn’t stopped the regulator making more changes, and upgrades, to its calendar.
On top of the 13 New South Wales races upgraded in October - including the internationally recognised The Everest to Group 1 status - next week’s $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) for two-year-olds has for the first time been given Group 3 status, according to the Racing Australia website.
The Warra, a 1000m race on Kembla Grange’s standalone metropolitan race day November 23 headlined by The Gong, has also been promoted from a non-stakes race to a Group 3 after just three runnings of the $300,000 open age sprint.
There has been no formal announcement of these upgrades.
Six “upgraded” Sydney races - the Tapp-Craig, Silver Eagle, ATC St Leger, Reginald Allen Quality, The Invitation and Five Diamonds Prelude - have already been won but their black type status has not been ratified by an Australian Pattern Committee nor various international authorities.
It means that those so-called black type performances are not reflected in horses’ pedigree pages or their sires’ black type tallies.
The Golden Gift has become a target race for owners and trainers since it was first run in 2019 because of its lucrative prize money. The winner is assured of a start in the autumn’s Group 1 Golden Slipper courtesy of the $580,000 first prize money of the Golden Gift.
It is arguable that the introduction of the Golden Gift has also impacted the depth of Sydney’s opening juvenile races of the season, the Breeders’ Plate and Gimcrack Stakes, both Group 3 races carrying $250,000 prize money each.
The Golden Gift, to be run at Rosehill on November 9, has previously been won by Dame Giselle (2019), Sneaky Five (2020), Sejardan (2021), Barber (2022) and Shangri La Express, last year’s victor.
Bren O’Brien
The Warra, which complements The Gong that has also been given Group 3 status for the first time by Racing NSW this year, was won last year by Darby Racing’s Insurrection, Godolphin’s Athelric won it in 2022 and Eleven Eleven won the inaugural running in 2021.
The changes to the NSW Pattern has been enabled by the Racing Australia board adopting new black type guidelines in early October using a ratings-based approach to determine a race’s stakes status.
However, the upgrades to various NSW races, outside The Everest and Victoria’s All-Star Mile, have not been internationally recognised as it has to be seen to comply with the Asian Pattern Committee’s (APC) ground rules.
Once ratified by the APC, the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC) and the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA) are advised of any changes to the Pattern and subsequently they are updated in the globally recognised “Blue Book”.
The changes to the swathe of NSW races won’t be recognised with “black type” in catalogues for next year’s Australasian yearling sales, starting with the season-opening Magic Millions Gold Coast sale in January.
Saturday’s $750,000 Rosehill Gold Cup was given Group 3 status under the Australian black type guidelines but it won’t be recognised internationally as will be the case for Tuesday’s “Listed” Big Dance at Randwick and next Saturday’s “Listed” Five Diamonds back at Rosehill.
Racing Australia chief executive Paul Eriksson has been contacted for comment.
