The Three Wise Men Come Bearing Tips

Sydney Morning Herald

Friday January 16, 2009

Max Presnell

'Because of the dearth of open-class racing in Sydney, the average field strength for Melbourne is six kilos stronger than Sydney despite NSW having better horses. We think this a shameful state of affairs. As a result Sydney trainers advise owners to sell to Asia because there is simply not enough open-class races in Sydney."

So said the submission on "handicapping and programming" by Dom Beirne, Robbie Waterhouse and Michael McHugh. According to Waterhouse, Bhutane Dane, a promising three-year-old, is on the market due to the lack of suitable races in Sydney.

On Monday, their submission was presented to Racing NSW board members, trainers and handicappers. In the past, other gabfests before NSW racing's ruling body on the subjects with the three wise men were basically a waste of their time. However, reports indicate the latest meeting, with Alan Brown in the chair, seems likely to produce a positive outcome.

Could this be precursor to NSW racing getting the control it deserves, an aspect sadly lacking in more recent times?

Back in 2004 Racing NSW adopted a ratings system for handicapping to achieve greater transparency to enable owners and trainers to know in advance what weight their horses would carry when entered for any class of handicap event. The templates proceeded on the assumption that each class of race run at the provincials and country tracks were equal in strength, plainly not the case.

About 12 months ago the templates failed and their publication was withdrawn.

"However, despite the public abandonment of the templates we believe that the anomalies in handicapping still exist and so far as transparency is concerned is arguably worse than under the template system," stated the Waterhouse-Beirne-McHugh submission. "A recently published study of Hong Kong racing showed that betting turnover is maximised where average fields contain good-quality horses racing at middle distances. Unfortunately over the last 20 years there has been a dumbing-down of the quality of metropolitan racing. Racing NSW should put to rest the mantra that metropolitan race programs should match the horse population. That mantra is an invitation to mediocrity."

So what are they advocating?

"NSW should have a merit handicapping system based on ratings where one point equals a half kilo. Every horse which has had more than three races should be given a rating based on merit for three starts and that rating should be publicly available. It should not be artificially altered by additions for age, distance or sex . . .

"Handicappers should no longer have the discretion to disregard their ratings and allot handicap weights that are inconsistent with their rating, with one exception: in all open company races of 1600 metres and longer where the rating of a three-year-old would result in a weight above the limit. The handicapper should have a discretion to take into account some fraction of the wfa scale and reduce the horse's weight. The non use of the weight-for-age scale in open-class races together with the BOBS scheme has unintentionally impacted heavily on distance racing. Steps should be taken to correct this . . .

"The system of fixed penalties for wins and fixed reductions in ratings for losses should be abandoned. Increases and decreases in rating should be based on the merit of the performance, not a system of automatic penalties and reductions."

A more aggressive approach to ratings, they feel, will lead to horses going into open company more quickly, encouraging a better class of horse, and leading to wider betting and increased turnover.

Programming has been a blight on Sydney racing with too many small fields but the submission stressed: "It should not be size for size's sake."

They say competitive fields of quality with no fewer than eight starters should be the target area.

Also . . . "Instead of having races for horses [rated] no higher than 91, 86, 81, 75, the present situation in the metro area, we advocate a policy of these races being confined to horses who have a rating better than the limit weight for that particular race.

"Another policy to stimulate betting turnover is to reduce the number of races where the conditions limit entry by reference to sex or age. Races should be inclusive not exclusionary . . .

"The weight spread between the top and bottom horses should be increased so as it make racing more competitive."

Trainers each month should be required to lodge a return informing Racing NSW of their present intentions concerning the likely programs (in terms of class, distance and readiness) for each horse in their stables, they advocated.

Still, the three wise men's submission depends greatly on handicappers with expertise.

"The handicapping department should not be the poor relation of racing administration," it stated. "It should be given resources, financial and others, to enable it to perform wide-ranging analyses of handicapping and programming so that Racing NSW can formulate policies that will make racing more attractive to owners and punters. To that end handicappers should be paid salaries and incentives that will attract the best candidates."

© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald

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