Graded Stakes Committee Makes Changes

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

So " halfway decent horses " make up Grade 1 races now?

Only the better Grade 1's

[Cannon Shell]

The graded stakes system is not only fairly useless in its present state but is harmful to the sport of horse racing by creating undeserved credentials for too many horses who use the graded blacktype as a justification to stop racing. A complete revamp of the system is badly needed but will never happen because the TOBA is a farce of an organization. They desperately fight against lasix (despite the fact that taking it away will lead to the devaluation of bloodstock accross the board) yet they adhere to this bloated system and wont drastically cut the number of graded events because they fear the effects it will have on the value of bloodstock (fewer graded blacktype horses, fewer credentialed mares, etc)

Assigning a "grade" to a race without knowing who is running in it is moronic. Assigning some sort of performance rates to stakes races after the season has concluded would not only be more accurate but would lead to increased competition and less ducking for fear of a year end downgrade. Had Zenyatta's connections had to choose between staying in CA and racing in races which would clearly be graded poorly due to the weak competition or racing in better races, well what do you think they might have done? Obviously classic races and certsin designated races could have some sort of special designation but far too many graded races are nothing more than allowance level races but for one or two horses.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The graded stakes system is not only fairly useless in its present state but is harmful to the sport of horse racing by creating undeserved credentials for too many horses who use the graded blacktype as a justification to stop racing. A complete revamp of the system is badly needed but will never happen because the TOBA is a farce of an organization. They desperately fight against lasix (despite the fact that taking it away will lead to the devaluation of bloodstock accross the board) yet they adhere to this bloated system and wont drastically cut the number of graded events because they fear the effects it will have on the value of bloodstock (fewer graded blacktype horses, fewer credentialed mares, etc)

Assigning a "grade" to a race without knowing who is running in it is moronic. Assigning some sort of performance rates to stakes races after the season has concluded would not only be more accurate but would lead to increased competition and less ducking for fear of a year end downgrade. Had Zenyatta's connections had to choose between staying in CA and racing in races which would clearly be graded poorly due to the weak competition or racing in better races, well what do you think they might have done? Obviously classic races and certsin designated races could have some sort of special designation but far too many graded races are nothing more than allowance level races but for one or two horses.

[King Glorious]

For the most part I agree with Cannon. The one problem I can see with grading races after the fact is you will have many different trainers and tracks claiming their horse or race is the star or marquee and the others are avoiding them. At least by grading them ahead of time, we all know which are supposed to be the biggest races and where the stars are supposed to be.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

For the most part I agree with Cannon. The one problem I can see with grading races after the fact is you will have many different trainers and tracks claiming their horse or race is the star or marquee and the others are avoiding them. At least by grading them ahead of time, we all know which are supposed to be the biggest races and where the stars are supposed to be.

We should already know what races are supposed to be the biggest races and where the "stars" are supposed to be. End of the year evaluation encourages competition as opposed to the system currently in place. Grading of races was supposed to be for breeders to use to determine what black type races were of what class. Of course this was 40 years ago before information was readily available like it is now. The sad thing is that if you bring any of this up to members of the committee or most racetrack execs or breeders they look at you like you are crazy. Again there is zero sentiment to adjust the system because it is putting money in peoples pockts, gives tracks a marketing tool (though I am skeptical about anyone other than serious fans actually being swayed by a grade of a race-I'm sure Parx will not see a big spike in attendance for next years Cottillion) and gives the year end voters something that they can use regardless of how weak certain highly graded races were in a given year.

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

(though I am skeptical about anyone other than serious fans actually being swayed by a grade of a race-I'm sure Parx will not see a big spike in attendance for next years Cottillion)

For what it's worth, which isn't much, I would be surprised if Parx didn't put the PA Derby and Cotillion on the same card now, plus the Turf Amazon and Gallant Bob...they have zero draw for the Cotillion in its current spot on the calendar and seem ready to have a big day when there isn't much else going on...so in that sense, if they run the Cotillion on PA Derby day, there will be a significant spike in attendance. Of course, the spike has everything to do with the race being moved to already a popular day attendance-wise, not because the Cotillion is a G1

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

We should already know what races are supposed to be the biggest races and where the "stars" are supposed to be. End of the year evaluation encourages competition as opposed to the system currently in place. Grading of races was supposed to be for breeders to use to determine what black type races were of what class. Of course this was 40 years ago before information was readily available like it is now. The sad thing is that if you bring any of this up to members of the committee or most racetrack execs or breeders they look at you like you are crazy. Again there is zero sentiment to adjust the system because it is putting money in peoples pockts, gives tracks a marketing tool (though I am skeptical about anyone other than serious fans actually being swayed by a grade of a race-I'm sure Parx will not see a big spike in attendance for next years Cottillion) and gives the year end voters something that they can use regardless of how weak certain highly graded races were in a given year.

The marketing appeal of a grade is virtually non-existent unless you can say you have a card with five G1's. Still debatable though.