The Harness Racing Australia (HRA) Executive met on 10 February 2020 to consider the recommendations of the Ratings Review Team (RRT) meeting with regards to modifications of the National Ratings Based Handicapping System.
Each of the five recommended amendments emanating from the Review were accepted by the HRA Executive, as follows:
Ratings Exempt Races upon Importation
It was agreed that ratings exempt races in overseas jurisdictions will not be considered as ratings exempt in Australia for the purposes of determining a horses rating.
This replaces the previous methodology in which one rating’s exempt performance was recognised in Australia upon importation.
-2 Dropback
It was agreed to modify the -2 dropback provided to horses who finish 6th to last in $15,000 to $49,999 category races to be restricted according to the rating of horse at the time of before of the race.
Accordingly, the -2 provision shall be provided for according to the following table:
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Three Year Old Concession
It was agreed that State Controlling Bodies (SCB) may be permitted to program races which provide a five (5) ratings point concession to 3yo horses when they compete against open aged horses.
In addition, a floor of 50 points will also be implemented – whereby a 3yo shall not drop below 50 rating points if the concession is applied in such races.
Two Year Old Starting Point
It was agreed to modify the commencement points of 2yo horses to 35 points rather than 40 points upon entering the racing population.
Matrix Modification
It was agreed that the following modifications be made to the Ratings Matrix to align to the prizemoney structure of the SCB’s and to remove the provision of a ratings point for 2nd placing in the lower level of racing.
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The above changes are now subject to formal adoption by the HRA Members and implementation by Racing Information Services Enterprise Pty Ltd (RISE) into the Harvey system and lastly adoption into the Australian Handicapping Rules. Following this process, a further update will provided to industry pertaining to effective dates of the changes.
