Three handicap races proposed for Friday’s program at Santa Anita based on a recently created rating system failed to draw sufficient interest when entries were taken Sunday.
Three ratings-based races will be offered for Saturday’s program, with slightly different conditions for two races. Track officials said ratings-based races will be offered for Sunday’s final day of the track’s autumn meeting. Entries for those days were scheduled to be taken on Monday and Tuesday.
Santa Anita is the first track in the nation to offer handicap races based on ratings.
The numerical ratings, introduced last week, have been generated by an algorithm created by Equibase, the data company co-owned by The Jockey Club. In theory, the ratings are designed to mimic handicap ratings used widely in countries such as Australia, Britain, Hong Kong, and Ireland.
Under the proposed plan, the ratings, two- or three-digit figures that correlate with a horse’s accomplishments, would be used to determine race eligibility in lieu of long-established methods such as allowance race conditions or claiming prices.
Outside of North America, claiming races are rare or non-existent.
The races offered at Santa Anita that failed to draw sufficient entries were a $65,000 handicap for fillies and mares at about 6 1/2 furlongs on the hillside turf course with ratings ranging from 80 to 95, a $35,000 handicap at 6 1/2 furlongs on dirt for horses rated 70 to 79, and a $25,000 handicap at six furlongs on dirt for horses rated 50 to 59.
From a purse standpoint, those races are comparable to current purses for a classified allowance race, a $25,000 claiming race without restrictions, and a $25,000 claimer for nonwinners of three.
For Saturday’s proposed races, conditions of the turf sprint were unchanged, and the handicap for horses rated 70 to 79 was changed to six furlongs. The six-furlong dirt handicap for horses rated 50 to 59 was replaced by a one-mile turf race for horses rated 60 to 69.
Some ratings have led to raised eyebrows.
Among the nation’s leading 3-year-olds, Sovereignty, winner of the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, and Travers Stakes, has a rating of 103, one point below Journalism, winner of the Preakness Stakes and Haskell Stakes who has never finished in front of Sovereignty.
Nysos, winner of the Grade 2 San Diego Handicap at Del Mar in July and three other graded stakes, has a 98 rating, equal to Clovisconnection, winner of seven minor stakes in California and Washington, who was 11th in his only start in a graded stakes in 2024.
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