By Dr Paull Khan

This year’s winner and placed horses in the Gran Premio de Madrid—run on Saturday, June 25th at Madrid’s La Zarzuela racetrack—will qualify for ‘black type’ in sales catalogues. This follows a decision by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) to approve a new ‘flagship race’ scheme designed to give ‘emerging’ EMHF racing nations a leg up in their quest for international recognition of their best races.

When news of the decision broke, the deadline for entries for this historical race—run on turf for three-year-olds and up, over 2,500 metres with a prize fund of €68,000—was days away. So, the track extended the deadline by a few days, while its new status was publicised. This paid dividends, with two additional entries received from Great Britain and France. There is still ‘room at the inn’, there being a Supplementary Entry stage on June 20th.

La Zarzuela’s director-general, Alvaro Gutierrez, gave his reaction to the development: “For La Zarzuela, who have just celebrated 80 years since opening, and for the whole Spanish horseracing industry—to get back a Black Type race means a lot. We have been working over recent years to be more international and develop our races in quality and level. We have very good tracks and very good professionals that demonstrate, whenever they compete abroad, the quality of our horses. Our local Category A races are really well-situated in prize money terms. We deserve to be recognised by IFHA again with a Black Type race—it will help us to continue developing and improving our horse racing program.”

The Spanish Jockey Club’s Paulino Ojanguren, an EMHF executive council member, agrees: “Black Type races mean good horses, good trainers and good jockeys; and that is what people want to see at the racetrack. A race like the Gran Premio de Madrid is a very good reason to attend the meeting and also a reward for everybody who has been involved in horse racing during the last difficult years.”

La Zarzuela is certainly a striking racecourse. Its signature ‘rippled’ grandstand roof, designed way back in the 1930s by pioneering structural engineer Eduardo Torroja, seems to float almost weightlessly above you. But how does its grass track ride?

“La Zarzuela is one of the most beautiful racetracks in Europe”, says Gutierrez. “It is a monument in its own right, which is in the running for World Heritage by UNESCO on the strength of its architecture and legacy. Also, the facilities are really good and the turf track always has the best of care. Horses here need to be fast because the pace normally is strong, they normally need to be suited by fast ground and to be tough, as the 3-furlong final straight is demanding, with the last furlong uphill. So, in essence, quality horses appreciate our racetrack.

“In 2020, before COVID started, we organised an international female jockeys championship and the feedback from jockeys and trainers was universally really good about our facilities and organisation. Prize money payments are made within 21 days. That’s why we have been visited in recent years by international horses and trainers, such as: Carlos Laffon-Parias, Mauricio Delcher-Sanchez, Christophe Ferland, Andrew Balding, Ed Dunlop, Jean-Laurent Dubord and Nicolas Caullery.”

So, what exactly is this ‘flagship race’ policy, how did it come about and what does it mean for other smaller European racing nations?

Europe has long led the way when it comes to the quality control of its pattern. It laudably applies the rules by which races are designated Group I, II or III or Listed with a strictness that is unparalleled around the world. But there has long been the feeling that, for those countries without Black Type races, this makes entry into the Black Type ‘club’ unduly difficult. In recent years, the EMHF has been inching closer to finding a proposal that ‘squares this circle’ to the EPC’s approval. It was Jason Morris, racing director at Horse Racing Ireland and newly appointed chair of the EPC, who came up with the formula which got the idea over the line and met with unanimous EPC support. He explains:

“The EPC supported a proposal from Ireland to take supportive action for the development of racing in the smaller EMHF racing nations. Growing the importance of racing in more EMHF countries will potentially produce political, promotional and commercial benefits for the industry throughout Europe. Helping to stimulate interest in racing in more European countries, improving the quality and standards of the racing and breeding industries within a broader swathe of the EMHF, growing potential export and ownership markets, and encouraging greater international participation and political recognition are all potential benefits.”

“Leading the way in quality control will remain the EPC’s strong ambition. However, pushing for that objective should not prevent us from assisting the development of the smaller EMHF countries. So, in order to move forwards, the EPC agreed to adopt a more liberal approach and agree to a lower Listed rating requirement on the basis that this would only apply to one race per smaller country.”

The full criteria are these:

An emerging country must adhere to basic EMHF-defined administration/integrity standards and be a member of the EMHF.
A maximum of one qualifying race is permitted per emerging country which qualifies on the basis of a lower rating parameter/tolerance level.
This lower parameter/tolerance level is 5 lbs below the normal Listed race levels (i.e., 95 lbs, rather than 100 lbs, with the exception of fillies/mares and two-year-old races, where the thresholds are lower).
A race from an emerging country must have achieved this required (lower) rating at least twice in the past three years, meaning that races must have been run at least twice.
The race’s prize fund must be a minimum of €50,000.
A qualifying race is given three years to establish itself before being subject to review and could be downgraded if falling below the lower ‘exceptional’ parameter/tolerance level thereafter (with the general principle being that it must either achieve the 5-lb lower average race rating over three years or the annual rating in two years out of the three renewals).
If a country wishes to seek Listed status for more than one race or Group status for any race, all Black Type races from that country must meet the full normal rating parameters; and the country would then become an associate member of the European Pattern Committee.

Trainers can thus get a good handle on the likely winnability of these Black Type races from knowing that the average rating of the first four home over recent renewals will have been between 95 and 100.

“An aspiration for the EPC”, Morris continues, “would be that the award of Listed status to one race would serve as a catalyst to improve their race programme and horse population, hopefully propelling them to become associate members in time (allowing more than one race to achieve Listed status if reaching the standard rating parameters).”

No fewer than five countries made applications under the new scheme, despite having only a few weeks in which to do so. In this, the first year, Spain was the only country whose chosen race rated highly enough, but it is our strong hope that, with more time in which to plan, other countries will be successful in the future.

“It is very pleasing that Spain has already been able to achieve the required level for Listed status to be awarded to the Gran Premio de Madrid and that several other countries were keen to put forward races, which will hopefully qualify for future consideration. The EPC will work with the respective rating authorities on trying to standardise their rating file levels with European norms to facilitate future evaluations.”

“An emerging country with aspirations for a race to be awarded Listed status by the EPC, but not yet achieving the rating requirements, will hopefully take encouragement to target the key race(s) within their jurisdiction for the future with enhanced prize money and promotion to boost the quality of the races. For races in an emerging country to be successful, strong communication of the opportunities internationally and incentives to encourage high quality overseas participation will be important.”

This European scheme could form a blueprint for the development of smaller racing nations in other regions of the globe. Your correspondent represents emerging countries on the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities’ Executive Council, and discussions with counterpart ‘ExCo’ member for the Asian Racing Federation, Bruce Sherwin of New Zealand, have revealed an interest in its adoption in Asia as well.

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Spain back in the Black Type big time new policy offers hope for other ‘smaller’ racing nations

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