C, B and A Divisions racing

I think lower MR races are the only reason Racing still survives - With Bloem history there would be no races for weaker types if it were not for the low MR races(and the MR system that allows them to compete) - Most new owners are buying lower end stock and if there were no races for them they would stop buying and gradually only the top owners would race which cannot be good for Racing. Also with a lower MR in province owners are able to see their battler race at Turffs or The Vaal instead of sending them to Kimberley. Obviously we all want the best to race but just as some drive Porche and others Toyota some unfortunately have only bicycles which should not stop them from enjoying the 'road".

Mr H racing survives in Ireland and they only race 4 days a week

hibernia Wrote:

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> Mr H racing survives in Ireland and they only race
> 4 days a week


More to do with the culture of gambling though - We no longer have a culture of Horse punting - We all know the Irish like to have a pint and a punt - South Africans like a pint but are not so certain of the punt

GB, I am sure Curly did not go that low!< Michael Roberts raced one with an MR of 15 the other day!: Seriously though, I know what the MR system is trying to accomplish but as said I do have a problem when a 6yr old 6x winner with R250000 in stakes gets weight from a 3yr old that took 5 races to break his maidens and has earnt R50000. Unless he is a maturing very late, 9/10 he will get beaten. If he is a top horse(then he would not have taken 5 runs to win) he will be ok but your mediocre horse will battle. To me merit ratings seem to cater for your top horses and your old battlers. I used to love picking a nice horse and follow him from his maidens through the divisions. now unless he is a star he will get beaten by an old battler on the way through and probably be sold to Mauritius as his merit rating is just too high to compete against the old timers.

Frodo Wrote:

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> Don Wrote:
>

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>

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> > i hope the turnover is worth the damage it is
> > causing
>
>
> I'm not sure what 'damage' this is causing - what
> is wrong with a '6 time winning 6yr old gving
> weight to a 3 yr old maiden' if the 3 yr old is a
> better horse than the 6 yr old' (extreme example
> anyway) - in my view there is nothing wrong with
> the MR system - and the application is getting
> better as we go along (apart from the occasional
> boo-boo like the 6 points rise and drop )
>
> I hope Elvis won't mind if I use his horse as an
> example - if you guys had your way, Silver
> Specialist would have been chucked out as
> 'rubbish' as a 3 yr old - today as a 6 yr old he
> has earned almost R300,000 in stakes - I fail to
> see why this is a 'problem' :S



Work out the cost of keep for those additional three years and put against stakes earned.

Excellently put Craig. That nice horse which will be consistent, but not going to the top, which can bring huge pleasure to his Owner/s is the ham in the sandwich and is always on a hiding to nothing. Those extra 3 or 4 wins are shaved off by the horse's very honesty and consistency. Unless, of course, you give the horse "runs" for about 6 months or a year....... after that, he is older and his rating has dropped and he can go and win some races..... because the rating WILL NOT DROP whilst the horse remains consistent. In fact, without winning a race, just by being consistent, a horse will go through the divisions.

And maybe that will explain quite a lot....

The Madji Wrote:

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> Frodo Wrote:
>

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>

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> > Don Wrote:
> >
>

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>
> >

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> > > i hope the turnover is worth the damage it is
> > > causing
> >
> >
> > I'm not sure what 'damage' this is causing -
> what
> > is wrong with a '6 time winning 6yr old gving
> > weight to a 3 yr old maiden' if the 3 yr old is
> a
> > better horse than the 6 yr old' (extreme
> example
> > anyway) - in my view there is nothing wrong
> with
> > the MR system - and the application is getting
> > better as we go along (apart from the
> occasional
> > boo-boo like the 6 points rise and drop )
> >
> > I hope Elvis won't mind if I use his horse as
> an
> > example - if you guys had your way, Silver
> > Specialist would have been chucked out as
> > 'rubbish' as a 3 yr old - today as a 6 yr old
> he
> > has earned almost R300,000 in stakes - I fail
> to
> > see why this is a 'problem' :S
>
>
>
> Work out the cost of keep for those additional
> three years and put against stakes earned.


By my calculations, still ends up in front by about R80 - R100k - I would love to have this kind of problem :S

And what Craig and Louis is saying, tells me that the problem lies in the application of the system (improving imo) and not the system itself