Robinson Has A Point To Ponder
Illawarra Mercury
Wednesday January 23, 2008
COUNTRY trainers should beware of racing their horses out of their grade after Racing NSW handicappers were forced to slug Terry Robinson-trained Ledger with a 10-point penalty for his comprehensive win in Monday's Moruya Town Plate (1200m).
Robinson was left scratching his head by the penalty from 69 to 79, which means the six-year-old will be restricted to open class racing in the green zone."I couldn't believe the rating when I saw it," he said."I actually rang up and asked if someone had made a mistake."He won by 51/2 lengths but it was a fairly weak open-class race."Racing NSW general manager for racing and commercial affairs Greg Rudolph explained the penalty was similar to that for recently Listed winner Mizone and Global Warming who had also copped double-figure penalties after winning out of their grade."In this case (of Ledger) he has to be rated in relation to his competition on Monday," Rudolph said."The handicappers realise that country wins are a different class to city wins and it is one of the challenges we are faced with using the rating system."We are holding a review and will have sessions around the state to explain and consult with the industry about the rating system."One of the options is use discretion when horses which have incurred high ratings racing in the country come to the metropolitan area."Ledger earned $6500 for the win at Moruya but the cost in grade would seem excessive when the average Sydney Saturday winner, who earn more than $40,000, only gets a seven-point hike.Robinson's job of placing Ledger is made more difficult as he can only race in country areas because of equine influenza."It rules him out of almost all rating-based races in the country and because I can't go to Sydney it will make it a lot harder for him," Robinson said."He will go to a 1400m open at Canberra in a couple of weeks and then to the National Sprint (over the same trip)."
© 2008 Illawarra Mercury
