plachon
14-05-2002, 23:57
“Control of low quality horses” rules and exclusion problems
The total gross of the day at Nakayama when “Yayoi-sho” took place on March 3rd, was 18,875 million yen. Of that 7,326 million yen (39% of total sales) was from just one race, the Yayoi-sho. Race 10 (class - earnings below 16 million yen) and race 12 (below 10 million yen) earned 2 billion yen; statistics that tell us that 62% of the sales were concentrated in the last three races in about an hour. The five griffin and maiden races earlier in the day contributed only 500 to 600 million yen each.
JRA introduced a new rule for maiden races and “aged horse below 5 million yen” categories, to reduce the number of low class and perpetually losing horses. Specifically, there are three new rules to reduce opportunities of races to run for weak horses. (1) A horse is suspended from races for a month if it did not finish within 8th place for three races in a row at below 5 million yen class and maiden races. (2) If a maiden gets time over (finishes four seconds behind the winning horse on grass, or five seconds behind the winning horse on dirt), it is suspended from races for two months for its second time, and for three months for its third time. (3) A previous loophole (the “special starter teatment” clause) that maiden horses could exploit to get round time over penalties was closed.
Behind this situation is the fact that there are an ever-increasing number of JRA registrations. Since last year when rules regarding the number of horses that can be managed in a stable was loosened, numbers of registrations increased by 12% compared to the same time last year. At the same time, production numbers of thoroughbreads have flattened out. The result is a greatly increased numbers of low class horses and overflowing horses-eligible-to-race lists. The number of exclusions-by-drawing-lots is about four times higher than last year.
Owners claim that “exclusion by drawing” is contrary to fair raceing, and persistently ask the JRA to increase the number of races a day to 13. However if we think about the present condition of JRA and hose racing in Japan, what they are asking could be just avarice. They insist on more races and more money, but it is obvious according to the distribution or horses across classes that the result will simply be more maiden and low class races. JRA have started selling the last race of main east and west racecourses together and both east and west increased its sales of the last race successfully. What is pertinent however is that whole buy didn’t increase. Telephone betting, which now accounts for one third of the total year’s sale can already provide customers to buy all 36 races a day. Most of the Wins sell 27 races a day. If the total sales didn’t increase although there are this many opportunities to buy, then we know for sure that increase of low class races won’t do any better and will cost more money. So, what actually the owners are asking of JRA is prize money.
What seems preferable from the point of view of the sport is to reform the classification of and eligibility to run in low class races, giving prerogative rights to race according to prize money and placing, or otherwise replacing the eligibility to run by drawing lots by competitive criteria. Another rule that could be usefully dropped is that providing for unraced horses to run in more than one griffin race.
Translated from Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper March 18, partly paraphrased.
The total gross of the day at Nakayama when “Yayoi-sho” took place on March 3rd, was 18,875 million yen. Of that 7,326 million yen (39% of total sales) was from just one race, the Yayoi-sho. Race 10 (class - earnings below 16 million yen) and race 12 (below 10 million yen) earned 2 billion yen; statistics that tell us that 62% of the sales were concentrated in the last three races in about an hour. The five griffin and maiden races earlier in the day contributed only 500 to 600 million yen each.
JRA introduced a new rule for maiden races and “aged horse below 5 million yen” categories, to reduce the number of low class and perpetually losing horses. Specifically, there are three new rules to reduce opportunities of races to run for weak horses. (1) A horse is suspended from races for a month if it did not finish within 8th place for three races in a row at below 5 million yen class and maiden races. (2) If a maiden gets time over (finishes four seconds behind the winning horse on grass, or five seconds behind the winning horse on dirt), it is suspended from races for two months for its second time, and for three months for its third time. (3) A previous loophole (the “special starter teatment” clause) that maiden horses could exploit to get round time over penalties was closed.
Behind this situation is the fact that there are an ever-increasing number of JRA registrations. Since last year when rules regarding the number of horses that can be managed in a stable was loosened, numbers of registrations increased by 12% compared to the same time last year. At the same time, production numbers of thoroughbreads have flattened out. The result is a greatly increased numbers of low class horses and overflowing horses-eligible-to-race lists. The number of exclusions-by-drawing-lots is about four times higher than last year.
Owners claim that “exclusion by drawing” is contrary to fair raceing, and persistently ask the JRA to increase the number of races a day to 13. However if we think about the present condition of JRA and hose racing in Japan, what they are asking could be just avarice. They insist on more races and more money, but it is obvious according to the distribution or horses across classes that the result will simply be more maiden and low class races. JRA have started selling the last race of main east and west racecourses together and both east and west increased its sales of the last race successfully. What is pertinent however is that whole buy didn’t increase. Telephone betting, which now accounts for one third of the total year’s sale can already provide customers to buy all 36 races a day. Most of the Wins sell 27 races a day. If the total sales didn’t increase although there are this many opportunities to buy, then we know for sure that increase of low class races won’t do any better and will cost more money. So, what actually the owners are asking of JRA is prize money.
What seems preferable from the point of view of the sport is to reform the classification of and eligibility to run in low class races, giving prerogative rights to race according to prize money and placing, or otherwise replacing the eligibility to run by drawing lots by competitive criteria. Another rule that could be usefully dropped is that providing for unraced horses to run in more than one griffin race.
Translated from Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper March 18, partly paraphrased.