Following a recommendation from the Ratings Review Team and ratification from the Harness Racing Australia (HRA) Executive, the HRA Members have today approved the method in which imports are assessed for Ratings Based Handicapping.
From 1 February 2020, horses that have been cleared into Australia (i.e. clearances paid for) will be assessed according to the transitional ratings guidelines rather than according to their lifetime performances. This means that imports will be assessed on what their Class would have been at 30 April 2019 according to the Conversion Table, with each start from 1 May 2019 then calculated for ratings purposes (see Rule 14 of the Australian Handicapping Rules). This replaces the former method in which ratings points were allocated to imports for their lifetime, irrespective of date.
As scheduled, HRA’s Six Monthly Ratings Review is to be held on 31 January, which will be a comprehensive review of the Ratings Based Handicapping System from the first six months. Feedback and proposals to be considered in this meeting by the RRT Members and CEO’s are to be sent to rrt@hra.com.au.
An update to industry will provided following the review.
