A Grade 1

[Valuist]

And they call this field in the Hollywood Turf Cup Grade 1? Its Grade 1 in name only, not in quality.

[Observer]

A race earns its status based on reputation .. there is a committee that meets every year to evaluate the races to determine if anything needs changing .. whether it be upgrading or downgrading.

Maybe you don't think it should be a Grade I this year, but this field does not determine the status of this year's running.

[Valuist]

That's exactly right; and that's why the grading process should be done AFTER the year, or at least after the race is run. There will be a fraudulent Grade 1 winner after that race.

[cj]

The problem with grading a race after it is run is that it is unfair to those who own the horses. Graded stakes are huge in the breeding game, and some owners run their horses for one reason...graded status of the race. Everyone knew the race was a Grade 1...everyone was invited...they chose not to show up. If the race continues to draw sub-standard fields, it will be downgraded.

In the meantime, who is to say the winner today won't blossom into a genuine star? Further, I don't recall anyone saying the BC Juvenile should be downgraded this year because a maiden winner who will likely never win another G1 was the winner after most of the expected contenders decided not to run. Should the Belmont have been a G2 the year Commendable won it? Hardly. There is a long history to many of these G1s, and one year should not determine what its grading is.

[Bubbles]

Originally posted by cjmilkowski
The problem with grading a race after it is run is that it is unfair to those who own the horses. Graded stakes are huge in the breeding game, and some owners run their horses for one reason...graded status of the race. Everyone knew the race was a Grade 1...everyone was invited...they chose not to show up. If the race continues to draw sub-standard fields, it will be downgraded.

In the meantime, who is to say the winner today won't blossom into a genuine star? Further, I don't recall anyone saying the BC Juvenile should be downgraded this year because a maiden winner who will likely never win another G1 was the winner after most of the expected contenders decided not to run. Should the Belmont have been a G2 the year Commendable won it? Hardly. There is a long history to many of these G1s, and one year should not determine what its grading is.

Yep. Another point is this: Should the Juvenile be downgraded because a winner hasn't won the Derby yet? No way. The only place where a million-dollar race is a G2 is Dubai on their big day.

[Observer]

CJ .. you nailed it .. I totally agree with you!

[Valuist]

On the positive side, we can bet against horses coming out of fraudulently graded races knowing their credentials aren't legit; like the winner of the Turf Cup last Saturday. Let's see him in a real Grade 1; he'll get buried. He may be in tough in a fair Grade 2.

[Tom]

A nice benifit to the computer age of PPs is that it is really easy to look at the actuall PPs of any race quickly. HTR makes this poossible, as does the abiulity to buy all tracks from TSN, BRIS, of DRF for package prices. I love to go look at a past race to see what the other horses looked like when I am evaluating a horse' s performance. Used to have to run downt to the basement and literally dig thorugh stacks of old forms, hoping I had the one I needed.