Controversy
The National Horseracing Authority backed up the findings of
their handicappers and overruled the objection by the connections of
Buy and Sell with regard to the colts new merit rating.
The Appeal Board deliberated on an objection lodged by trainer
Sean Tarry regarding the increase in the merit rating of his colt
Buy and Sell to a 108 following his win in the Daily News 2200.
After considering submissions by both Mr. Tarry and the handicappers,
the panel overruled the objection and confirmed Buy and Sell's rating.
This type of controversy, unfortunately, has become the pre-Durban
July norm, and I believe that most will agree with me that it is in
the best interest of racing that the handicappers were vindicated.
One needs to take into account that it is a panel that debates the
merits {pun intended} of each horse before any final decision is
reached and it's not just a "thumb suck" figure or a personal opinion
of any one individual of the board that arrives at a final rating. Add
to this the fact that all merit ratings for South African horses are
acknowledged as accurate by racing authorities world wide, to the
point that when any SA racehorse travels abroad, it is handicapped in
accordance to the merit rating given to it by our handicapping board!
Surely then we should afford them the same courtesy?
Rightly or wrongly (a point that can be debated endlessly)
adjustments have been made in the past, but all this did was set a
dangerous precedent with connections feeling that they can
continuously question the decisions of the handicappers who have been
appointed to do this difficult job and are doing it in exemplary
fashion. I'm sure we can all agree that their decisions will please
some of the people some of the time but not all of the people all of
the time. It is, however, unfortunate that they always seem to end up
with the short straw and they must have been heartened by the fact
that the HRA found in their favour in this instance.
In the knowledge that for some of you, the above would have dropped
my personal merit rating considerably, I nonetheless wish you one and
all good racing, till next time.
The G. Man
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