‘The world is watching and for all the wrong reasons’

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Gosford’s The Coast elevated to Listed status as the list of Racing NSW’s independently upgraded races grows to 16

Prominent breeding industry figures from both sides of the Tasman directly affected by NSW’s ongoing black type debacle have called for an urgent resolution as the issue lurches further towards crisis.

It comes as another NSW race was quietly gazetted as black type on Racing Australia’s (RA) calendar despite no official international approval, with Gosford’s The Coast (1600m), which is set to be held in May and has been now dubbed a Listed event.

That brings the number of races under the auspices of Racing NSW to 16 and its CEO Peter V’Landys supposedly given status lifts amid the state’s current frenzy of upgrades.

Two have been marked as upgraded from Listed to Group 3, while the remaining 14 have been gazetted as entering the black type pattern. Two of those have gone straight in as Group 2s in Saturday’s The Hunter (1300m) at Newcastle, and The Invitation (1400m), which was run at Randwick on October 26.

All of the supposed 16 changes are, however, meaningless as they have not been ratified by the Asian Pattern Committee (APC) – or even submitted to it by RA for ratification.

By extension, the APC has not passed on any ratifications to the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC) and the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers (SITA).

Since SITA oversees the International Cataloguing Standards publication “The Blue Book” – the reference source for sales catalogues around the world – the 16 changes have also not been recognised in that publication or by Arion, the southern hemisphere’s largest supplier of pedigrees.

In turn, as Australia’s yearling sale season approaches, the country’s auction houses Inglis and Magic Millions are also not recognising the supposed upgrades, as an ‘Emperor’s New Clothes’ standoff continues – and looks certain to exist until dialogue occurs between RA and the APC.

RA, which has had no chair for almost three years, but whose board includes the powerful V’landys as NSW’s delegate, has not responded to a strongly worded letter sent from the APC on October 20 expressing its disapproval of the ongoing situation.

Doomsday fears continue from some in the Australian breeding industry that if the country continues to ignore the APC’s stipulations it will be demoted to Book 2 of the Blue Book – and have no Group racing as recognised in the eyes of the world.

In the meantime, breeders impacted in some of the ten races already run among the 16 have called for a swift resolution, saying it is frustrating and confusing as uncertainty continues over whether their horses have earned black type or not.

New Zealand’s Little Avondale Stud has been affected twice, with their stallion Per Incanto (Street Cry) siring the winners of the $2 million The Invitation in Belclare, and the $3 million The Big Dance (1600m) in Gringotts.

While both were already stakes winners, those victories – if actually black type – would have taken Per Incanto from three to five Australian stakes wins for the season, and from 55 to 57 globally for his career.

Little Avondale proprietor Sam Williams described the NSW situation as “sad”.

“The world is watching and for all the wrong reasons,” he told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“As I said to a journalist the other day, it [Australia] is the most aggressive and most exciting racing jurisdiction in the world, and yet they’ve got a committee of one for a pattern committee, that’s now got the full world’s attention and is making a mockery of it all. It’s sad.

“As a stallion owner you go, ‘Great, Per Incanto’s had two more stakes wins this season’, but he hasn’t. 

“How do you advertise it? Do you take the NSW stance and say, ‘Well he has’, but then internationally he hasn’t been recognised, so he hasn’t? So we’ve chosen not to advertise it.

“With Arion and the three auction houses here, as breeders we’re going to go, ‘Far out – we won that race, it’s a Group race’, only to get told ‘But it’s not a Group race’.

“From the breeders’ perspective there’s a deep frustration.”

Some industry figures have speculated the current confusion will lead to lawsuits from affected parties towards RA, RNSW and possibly clubs advertising races under classifications carrying no recognition from international authorities. The bone of contention would come when sales catalogues do not reflect any black type for such races, affecting the value of horses winning or placing in them, and their relatives.

Williams said he would leave such actions to larger concerns than his. These would likely include powerful, big money stallion syndicates and larger breeding operations. But he said the view from New Zealand on events across the Tasman was one of deep concern.

“There is a process for these races to be given black type status and the process obviously has not been followed,” Williams said.

“I think it’s sad because we in New Zealand all want to race horses in Australia. It’s the most exciting jurisdiction in the world at the moment for prize-money, and it’s capturing the attention of everyone around the world, but this is just putting a negative spin on it.

“It needs to be sorted and addressed because unfortunately, when you’re buying stallions and mares, that black type is very important in their pedigrees, and we cannot afford to make a mockery of it.”

New Zealand has recently had black type downgrades, including the Levin Classic (Gr 2, 1600m) losing its top tier status in September.

Australia has had no downgrades for some 12 years. It has also had no functioning pattern committee since 2018, and while RA announced last month it had been replaced by the “Australian Black Type Guidelines”, the NSW 16 have still not been submitted for APC approval, as Asian Race Federation member nations are compelled to do, under APC ground rules.

RA CEO Paul Eriksson has in the past insisted to ANZ Bloodstock News that RA has the right to make decisions on upgrades up to Group 2 level, under the APC’s ground rules.

However, SITA chairman Jonathan D’Arcy told ANZ the intent of the ground rules was that national bodies could slate upgrades and then inform the APC at their annual meeting of their intention to implement them in the following season – not straight away as in the case of the NSW 16.

While Belclare won her second successive New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) last April, the seven-year-old’s owner-breeder David Woodhouse has been seeking to boost her value with important Australian wins. That’s come since she was passed in at May’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale since, Woodhouse said, “it seems the market didn’t rate New Zealand Group 1 races”.

Still, he’d harboured no illusions The Invitation was a Group 2 before his mare won it.

“A friend who used to be on the pattern committee in New Zealand told me the race wouldn’t be recognised as Group 2. So I’ve been quite accepting of the fact it wasn’t going to be called a Group 2 from day one really,” said Woodhouse, who at least was able to celebrate a genuine Group 2 success with Belclare in last Saturday’s Hot Danish Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Rosehill.

Williams said there were other ramifications to consider, such as the reputation boost the New Zealand Breeders Stakes would have received had its recent dual winner scored two Australian Group 2 victories instead of just the Hot Danish.

“Say Belclare went amiss after The Invitation and didn’t race again, that win wouldn’t be on her CV as a Group 2,” he said.

“Fortunately, she’s won again and now has her Group 2 win over there. And that also enhances the form of the Breeders’ Stakes. So this argument is not just about should The Invitation be a Group 2 or not; it’s about the flow-on effect right back to the Breeders’ Stakes. We need clarity.”

Veteran NSW breeder Tony Bott is affected as the breeder of Anode (I Am Invincible) – the first horse to win one of the NSW 16, in last month’s ATC Tapp-Craig (1400m) at Randwick, which was supposedly elevated to be a Listed contest.

Evergreen Stud’s Bott has a yearling half-brother to Anode, by Zoustar (Northern Meteor), likely going to next year’s Inglis Easter sale. While it is possible the APC may one day retrospectively recognise the upgrades – pending resumed communication from RA – Anode remains a non-black type winner.

“Probably the ATC were the innocent victims. Racing Australia or Racing NSW may be to blame for a premature announcement,” Bott told ANZ.

“It’s certainly left certain owners and breeders like ourselves in the dark and in the lurch, with holes in our pedigree when we thought we had black type against a particular progeny.

“We’ve got Anode’s half-brother going to the sales. It would’ve been nice to have a black type update in the catalogue, but at the moment it appears that’s not the case.

“It’s frustrating in that there hasn’t been any clarification on the issue – whether it’s that they’re waiting for overseas recognition, or whether that’s going to be put on the backburner and shelved for the moment.”

Asked if the current morass could lead to legal action against RA and RNSW by disgruntled breeders, Bott said: “Maybe someone might instigate that. Some of the stallion owners might be a bit gun shy about taking on the establishment [but] I assume the big stallion syndicates would have a handle on it and would be negotiating somewhere along the line to resolve the issue.

“They’ve got a lot invested in it, ongoing and initially. We’re only one isolated case. There might be a dozen or so cases for some of the stallion owners.”

Industry giant John Messara, RA’s most recent chairman before quitting in frustration at the NSW-Victoria political wars in 2022, is directly affected since his Arrowfield Stud stands Castelvecchio (Dundeel). His three-year-old first crop daughter Aeliana won last month’s Reginald Allen Quality (Listed, 1400m), which had been advertised as a Group 3.

“We can’t claim it as a Group 3,” he told ANZ.

“I’ll be pleased when the confusion is cleared. It’s just another little impediment, but it’d be helpful to have clarity.

“It shouldn’t be too much to ask to know what the status of a race is. Hopefully it’ll be cleared up in due course. We can only go on what the catalogue will say.”

Ostraka (Pariah) won last month’s Silver Eagle (1300m), promoted as entering the pattern as a Group 3. A fourth Group winner for Pariah (Redoute’s Choice) would have been welcomed at Queensland’s Oaklands Stud, which stands the ten-year-old at $6,600 (inc GST).

Oaklands boss Neville Stewart, who was a Queensland Racing board member for six years and chairman of the Downs and South West Racing Association for 14, said Australia must “play by rules”, and called for greater leadership at the national body.

“If you want recognition worldwide of the quality of your races, you’ve got to play by the rules,” Stewart told ANZ.

“As a comparison, I know a lot of other people who years ago said Ireland and New Zealand were saying anything can be a black type race. That’s a sales tool, so a lot of new buyers turn up and buy horses with Irish and New Zealand pedigrees. It’s black type, but it doesn’t mean much.”

Stewart said he recognised V’landys’ motivations in the current swathe of mooted upgrades, “but it’s not something that’s good in the long term”.

“The short term view is, ‘Oh well, that’s good, more black type races’,” he said. “But in the long term it’s no good, because they’re not recognised by anybody else except NSW. How can that be good?”

Still, Stewart said while he would not be advertising a new Group winner for Pariah in Ostraka, no one else was fooled by NSW’s new designations either.

“People see it for what it is,” he said. “Don’t ever think the mob gets it wrong. They don’t.

“People are not stupid. The only people who are fools are the people who actually create it, because they think they’ve had a win, whereas I don’t think they’ve had a win.

“For me it’s not frustrating but my view is, Racing Australia needs to get a handle on what’s going on. They need to have a qualified set of people sitting on the pattern committee.

“And there needs to be one set of rules for everybody, and no one under any circumstances should be able to step outside that circle.

“And Australia is Australia, not just New South Wales.”

Stewart said it was “stunning” that RA did not have a chairman. Instead, it has six directors – one from each mainland state and one rotated through Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory. ANZ understands that when the board meets, one director is appointed as chair for that meeting.

“Historically, there’s always been a chairman of Racing Australia,” Stewart said. “Why isn’t there one now, and why don’t they set the guidelines and the rules and take control of Australian racing, rather than let individuals run off and set their own agendas and play it for their own states and create more rivalry with other states?” said Stewart, calling for more clarity on the black type picture. 

“How can you have clarity if you don’t have unity Australia wide? And there’s no unity because there’s no leadership.”

RA CEO Paul Eriksson did not respond to ANZ’s request for comment on this article. V’landys has previously told ANZ “the pattern is a Racing Australia matter”.

The ten out of the 16 that have already been run are:

 

October 12

Tapp-Craig (1400m) – “upgraded” from non black type to Listed 

Winner: Anode (I Am Invincible) 

Breeder Evergreen Rich 

Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott 


Jockey: Tim Clark

 

October 19

St Leger Stakes (2600m) – non-black type to Group 3

Winner: Athabascan (Almanzor)

Breeder: Ecurie Peregrine (FR)

Trainer: John O’Shea and Tom Charlton

Jockey: Tommy Berry

 

Reginald Allen Quality (1400m) – Listed to Group 3 

Winner: Aeliana (Castelvecchio)

Breeder: Nearco Stud & Rich Hill Thoroughbreds (NZ)

Trainer: Chris Waller

Jockey: James McDonald

 

Silver Eagle (1300m) – non black type to Group 3

Winner: Ostraka (Pariah)

Breeder: Arrowfield

Trainer: Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald

Jockey: Blake Shinn

 

October 26

The Invitation (1400m) – non black type to Group 2

Winner: Belclare (Per Incanto)

Breeder: DK Woodhouse

Trainer: Bjorn Baker

Jockey: Blake Shinn

 

The Five Diamonds Prelude (1500m) – non black type to Listed

Winner: Iknowastar (Star Witness)

Breeder: Miller Thoroughbreds, et al

Trainer: Bjorn Baker

Jockey: Rachel King

 

November 2

Rosehill Gold Cup (2000m) – non black type to Group 3

Winner: Fawkner Park (Zoffany)

Breeder: Lisbrook

Trainer: Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald

Jockey: Tyler Schiller

 

November 5

The Big Dance (1600m) – non black type to Listed

Winner: Gringotts (Per Incanto)

Breeder: Totara Park Stud

Trainer: Ciaron Maher

Jockey: Tommy Berry

 

November 9

Inglis Golden Gift (1100m) – non black type to Group 3

Winner: North England (Farnan)

Breeder: Zhongli Thoroughbreds

Trainer: Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott

Jockey: Tim Clark

 

Five Diamonds (1800m) – non black type to Listed

Winner: Pericles (Street Boss)

Breeder: Empyrean

Trainer: James Cummings

Jockey: Kerrin McEvoy

Two more are to be held on Saturday at Newcastle:

 

November 16

The Hunter (1300m) – non black type to Group 2

The New Zealand Bloodstock Beauford (2300m) – non black type to Listed