HANDICAPPING RATINGS UPDATE

Betway Summer Cup (Grade 1)

ROYAL VICTORY has had his merit rating raised from 111 to 119 following his success in the Betway Summer Cup (Grade 1) (Handicap) over 2000m on the Turffontein standside course on Saturday 25 November 2023. The Handicappers were of the view that both 2nd placed SAFE PASSAGE and 3rd placed BLESS MY STARS made for suitable line horses, which leaves them unchanged on marks of 117 and 119 respectively. It must be borne in mind that ROYAL VICTORY’s adjustment includes the under-sufferance amount of 3 pounds as this race was benchmarked at 113 = 54kg.

The only other increase in ratings was for ZEUS who was also under sufferance and goes up from 111 to 113.

The following horses were given drops in ratings. SHOEMAKER was dropped from 112 to 111, ARAGOSTA was dropped from 114 to 112, SECOND BASE and ANFIELDS ROCKET were both dropped by 3 pounds each from 117 to 114 and 120 to 117 respectively, while EAST COAST and LADY OF POWER were both dropped by 2 pounds each from 110 to 108 and 107 to 105 respectively.

Jonsson Workwear Dingaans (Grade 2)

PURPLE PITCHER had his rating adjusted from 112 to 114 after his win in the Jonsson Workwear Dingaans (Grade 2) over 1600m at Turffontein on Saturday. The Handicappers were of the view that PURPLE PITCHER would not have run below the 114 he achieved when winning a Handicap last time out. Accordingly, the Handicappers used his actual achievement of 114 to rate this race.

GIMMEANOTHERCHANCE who controlled the pace of this race was deemed to have had the run of the race and was only adjusted to a rating of 112, two pounds below PURPLE PITCHER despite his margin of defeat which mathematically works out to 1 pound.

SANDRINGHAM SUMMIT was not considered as a suitable line horse here as the Handicappers felt that he had underperformed after meeting with early interference, which left him with far too much ground to make up in the home straight.

The only other horse that was given an increase was THE AFRICA HOUSE, who was increased from 98 to 106, this makes him higher than the 105 rated GUY GIBSON who he beat here at level weights.

Two horses were given ratings drops of 1 pound each, PURE PREDATOR and FIRE ‘N FLAMES were both dropped from 101 to 100.

New Turf Carriers Merchants (Grade 3)

DYCE saw his merit rating climb from 116 to 130 after he emphatically accounted for his rivals in the New Turf Carriers Merchants (Grade 3) (Handicap) over 1160m at Turffontein on Saturday. Here it was 3rd placed DANILO DANILOVITCH who was considered to be the most suitable line horse, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 108. In rating the race this way, MOONSHININGTHROUGH runs to a mark of 101, effectively making her a line horse as well.

GLADATORIAN was the only other horse in this event to get a ratings’ increase, he was raised from 114 to 117. While it was noted that GLADATORIAN was a well beaten runner up, he still managed to beat the line horse by 1.5 lengths and in order to give the rest of the runners in this field a chance of being competitive he had to be adjusted upwards.

The following horses were given drops, SWING UPON A STAR was dropped from 106 to 103, DAVE THE KING was dropped from 124 to 122, ULTRA MAGNUS was dropped from 102 to 100 and MERCANTOUR was dropped from 113 to 110.

Betway Fillies Mile (Grade 3)

The unbeaten GIMME A NOTHER had to be capped to a rating of 100 after impressively winning the Betway Fillies Mile (Grade 3) over 1600m at Turffontein on Saturday. The Handicappers were of the opinion that LET’S GO NOW would not have run below her previous performance of 105 which she achieved when 3rd in the Starling Stakes (Grade 3) and used her to that level when rating the Betway Fillies Mile. LET’S GO NOW’s official rating of 95 was not a reflection of her performance due to the specific conditions that inhibited the Handicappers from adjusting her to the figure of 105 she achieved in the Starling Stakes. The Handicappers saw no reason whatsoever to have her performing below the 105 in a similar class race, given that she again ran into 3rd place. Here again, LET’S GO NOW is protected from being rated to her true ability due to the specific race conditions that only allow for a 4 pounds increased for placed runners. Accordingly, LET’S GO NOW has been increased from 95 to 99.

The adjustment of GIMME A NOTHER to a rating of 100 is not a reflection of GIMME A NOTHER’s performance due to the specific race conditions that place a cap of 8 pounds on the winner of this Grade 3 event. As a consequence of this cap, GIMME A NOTHER is now rated 9 pounds below WHITE PEARL on a 109 despite easily accounting for this rival at level weights here.

The following horses received rating’s drops, TAMIL TIGRESS was dropped from 90 to 88, LITTLE MIZ SWAGGER was dropped to 84 from a rating of 86 and SOLDIER’S EYE was given a 1-pound drop from 98 to 97.

Joburg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes (Grade 3) - Formerly the Magnolia Handicap (Grade 3)

MRS BROWNING remains unchanged on a rating of 103 after winning the Joburg Tourism Carry On Alice Stakes (Grade 3) over 1160m at Turffontein. It was MRS BROWNING herself that was considered to be a line horse here and in rating the race this way both COLDSHARDSTARE and ICE STAR run to their official ratings effectively making them line horses as well. Accordingly, their ratings remain unchanged.

The only runner to have received a rating’s increase was TROPPO VELOCE who was raised from a rating of 96 to 98.

A number of horses were given a rating’s drop, MARIGOLD HOTEL was dropped from 106 to 104, BON VIVANT was dropped to 100 from 103, TIME FO ORCHIDS saw her rating cut from 94 to 90, FLOWERBOMB was dropped marginally from 105 to 104, ON CUE was dropped to 81 from 84, GOOD QUEEN BESS was given a 3 pounds drop to 86 from 89, while both FULL VELOCITY and NO FILTER were both dropped significantly from 101 to 97 and 94 to 88 respectively.

Cape Punter Cup (Grade 2)

HLUHLUWE was increased to a rating of 111 from 105 after fluently winning the Cape Punters Cup (Grade 2) over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth on Sunday 26 November 2023. The consistent ZOOMIE was considered to be the line horses here leaving him unchanged on a rating of 101.

2nd Placed, SNOW PILOT and 3rd Placed GREEN WITH ENVY had their respective ratings increased from 105 to 109 and 101 to 108. This ensures that the pecking order of this field is correct except for QUESTIONING who was deemed to have performed below his victory in the Cape Classic where he easily accounted for SNOW PILOT.

The only other horse to receive a rating’s increase was KING PELLES, who was increased from 93 to 95 which makes him at least equal to GREETING MY MASTER who is also rated 95.

No horses received a rating’s drop in this event.

City Of Cape Town Sophomore Sprint (Listed)

FUTURE VARIETY had his rating adjusted from 94 to 99 after his hard-fought win in the City Of Cape Town Sophomore Sprint (Listed) over 1200m at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth. Here it was TENANGO who was deemed to be the most suitable line horse and accordingly, his rating remained unchanged on a rating of 94. Narrowly beaten 2nd place finisher, CAPTAIN ARROW was adjusted to 98 from 92 and will be rated 1 pound lower than FUTURE VARIETY.

The following horses were given drops, both UNDERWORLD and JERUSALEMA RAIN were given drops of 2 pounds each from 105 to 103 and 109 to 107 respectively, while both MEU CAPITANO and MOJO MAN were given drops from 98 to 95 and 101 to 99 respectively.

Enquiries:

NHA Handicapping Team

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