The Sunshine Millions Classic is a million dollar race; it generally attracts large fields with decent quality. Yet from both a point standing and overall consideration perspective the race is worth very little. The reason it is worth very little mathematically and in the opinions of industry personnel is easy. It is not a Graded Stakes race. The reason for the existence of Graded Stakes is outlined below.
"The purpose of the American Graded Stakes Committee is to provide owners and breeders of Thoroughbred horses a reliable guide to the relative quality of Thoroughbred bloodstock by identifying those U.S. races whose recent renewals have consistently attracted the highest quality competition. "
Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association (TOBA)
So the goal is to provide "a reliable guide" by identifying the races with the highest quality competition. So one logically has to ask, if that is the goal of Graded Stakes are they achieving that goal by excluding the Sunshine Millions races?
The reason that the Sunshine Millions races are not graded is because they are not eligible to be graded because they carry a state bred restriction. There are seven criteria used to screen races for Graded Stakes eligibility and the Sunshine Millions races fit 6 of the 7 criteria. This is the one rule that sees them excluded.
"Restricted races - Races may be ineligible for grading if conditions for competing in them include restrictive provisions relative to which horses may enter, other than by sex or age. A race is regarded as a restricted race if (1) any of its conditions for entry would tend to exclude better horses while allowing participation by lesser horses, or (2) the race contains any preference clauses that are based on criteria other than the quality of horses unless such preference applies only in determining the preference of horse deemed to be of equal quality (i.e. horses assigned equal weight in a high-weights preferred race)."
So essentially this rules speaks about state bred races, but I wonder if that restriction is inconsistent with the overall goal of the Graded Stakes system. Is there really any doubt that the Sunshine Millions fields are better than many of the graded stakes run in the same part of the season? Was the quality of the G-3 Aqueduct Handicap really that much better than what the Sunshine Millions Classic will have? How about the four-horse field we saw in the G-2 Palos Verdes as compared to the Sunshine Millions sprint that will feature Bordonaro, Proud Tower Too, Nightmare Affair and many others? Needless to say I think the advantage of quality lies with the Sunshine Millions races. In that regard the Graded Stakes system is failing to achieve its goal.
One also must question the decision to exclude state bred races on the grounds of their restriction but allowing age and sex restrictions. Again the intent behind the rule is that they don’t want to allow restrictions that "would tend to exclude better horses while allowing participation by lesser horses". One could make a very solid case that age and sex restrictions do just that, they prevent better horses from participating while allowing lesser horses to compete. So, why are they treated differently by the Graded Stakes Committee? Why the double standard?
This problem doesn’t just affect the Sunshine Millions. Many Canadian races are graded under the same rules and it has meant that a Queens Plate prep race, the Marine Stakes (G-3), is actually a higher grade of race than the Queens Plate itself despite the fact that the quality is invariably inferior.
I think the Graded Stakes Committee needs to re-address their criteria and evaluate whether or not state-bred restrictions are automatic grounds for exclusion from eligibility. Not all state-bred races would be given graded status even if they were eligible, but I think a few of them do deserve graded status and I don’t see why the state-bred restriction should be treated differently than age or sex restrictions. I think it would certainly allow for a closer adherence to the overall goal of the entire system. It would provide a much more reliable guide because it would allow quality to be more fully recognized.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
this is not on topic, however i was wondering what KC thought about nafzger's 2 preps for street sense and i did see KC's comments today at drf//i hadn't seen much discussion about it in print before today// it seemed that matz had more critisism on the the way he brought barbaro to the derby last year than the way nafzger is bringing his horse to the kentucky derby// i wonder what's with street sense// nafzger says he is more muscular and and had gained weight but was not bigger//he said street sense was not happy i assume around chrismas time/ nafzger said he would be satisfied with hitting the board on a grade II, 7 1/2 furlong race//something just doesn't seem right with all this// chicago gerry
You raise an interesting point and make a compelling argument. Although the Sunshine Millions will (for a million obvious reasons) always draw at least a grade III group of horses, I worry that other state bred restricted stakes would be susceptible to up and down years in the talent pool that wouldn't be AS prevalent in open stakes competition - thus, making an accurate grading more or less a lucky guess. Also, the Sunshine races benefit from including two very good states. Can you identify some other state restricted stakes that you think should merit similar consideration? I am not disagreeing with you - I actually think the Sunshine classic, turf, and sprint merit graded status...but I wonder if this is a special circumstance rather than a industry wide dilemma.
"Can you identify some other state restricted stakes that you think should merit similar consideration?"
I agree with you that many state bred restricted stakes races dont draw graded stakes quality fields. I dont expect to see the Khaled Stakes upgraded. I'm merely advocating for the right of state bred races to be graded IF they consistently draw top quality horses. I believe the graded stakes committee looks at the last 5 runnings to determine if the quality is good enough. I think if a state bred race does have the quality it should get considered.
The Sunshine Millions is not the only example. As I mentioned I think the Canadian Triple Crown races should be instantly granted graded status. Perhaps not G-1 but a grading of some sort. As well there are a ton of other high quality Canadian races that should be graded. As well I think a race like the Empire Classic routinely draws G-3 fields as does the California Cup Classic. In fact many of the Cal Cup races draw good fields. Even a race like the West Point Handicap would merit consideration.
I think there are a sufficient amount of races to warrant a closer look at this.
I agree
Post a Comment