A Dozen NSW Races Lose International Recognition

Black-type status for New South Wales' list of 12 races supposedly given recent upgrades—including the four already run—have no recognition internationally, it has been confirmed, as the chaos surrounding Australia's grade pattern continues. It comes as the influential Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers expressed its severe disappointment that Australia has gone its own way in having no black-type committee, and warned the global Thoroughbred community was "not happy" with Australia's grading debacle. SITA said it wrote to Racing Australia Oct. 18 to express its concerns over the Australian black-type situation. ANZ Bloodstock News understands the hugely influential Asian Pattern Committee also emailed RA a strongly worded letter over the weekend to express its dissatisfaction. With the deadline looming next week for publication of pedigrees for January's Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale catalog, uncertainty over Australia's black-type pattern is set to affect two more races at Randwick Oct. 26: The Invitation (approx. seven furlongs) and the Five Diamonds Prelude (approx. seven and a half furlongs), slated for group 2 and listed status. And alongside the revelation Australia is believed to have had no races downgraded for 12 years, it also emerged Oct. 21 that RA appears to have contravened ground rules set down by the APC in listing the NSW 12 as upgraded. Under recent machinations at RA which led to group 1 status, Asian Pattern Committee internationally recognized Asian Pattern Committee for The Everest (G1) and Victoria's All Star Mile (G1), a dozen more NSW races were tagged as given black-type upgrades, by RA and Racing NSW. A further 56 upgrades had been planned across other states, but these have now been put on hold amid the continuing storm over the issue. RA told ANZ Friday that in listing the NSW 12, it had abided by the APC's ground rules, which appeared to show national administrators had the final say on upgrades up to group 2 level. However, it now appears RA and RNSW have jumped the gun in stating the races had already been given upgrades and that, under the ground rules, they ought to have waited for APC approval at an annual round of assessments before the races could be held with new status next season. In an interview with ANZ Friday, RA chief executive Paul Eriksson cited the APC's ground rule 3.i, which states in full: "Decisions relating to group 1 races (including the upgrading of races to group 1) and to races run in countries which are not members of the Committee will be taken by the Committee. Other than in exceptional circumstances, decisions relating to all other Pattern and Listed races will be determined, based on the Ground Rules of the Committee, by the Racing Authority of the relevant member country, which will then notify the Committee at the Annual Meeting." However, SITA chairman Jonathan D'Arcy on Monday said the intent of the ground rules was that approval may be given at that APC "annual meeting," after which any races in question could be run under their new status In an interview with ANZ, D'Arcy—also a long-term auctioneer at Australian sales house Inglis—brought clarity to past confusion over the process for international ratification of black-type changes. Specifically, the APC has the authority to sign off on all such alterations in Australia and the APC's other member nations, and it then informs SITA and the powerful International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee that this has been done. The races' changed status will then be denoted in the International Cataloguing Standards publication "The Blue Book," which is overseen by SITA and is the reference source for sales companies around the world. Eriksson on Friday said RA had not notified the APC of the NSW 12, as it believed it didn't have to. Accordingly, D'Arcy said SITA had received no notification from the APC regarding these races, and because of this SITA, like IRPAC and The Blue Book, did not recognize their upgrades. This means the black type that connections and breeders believed was earned by horses winning and placing in the four races from the NSW "dirty dozen" already run has no meaning in the eyes of the racing world and, crucially, those assembling catalogs, such as Magic Millions.