South Africa is a signatory to the Asian Racing Federation (ARF). The Asian Pattern Committee (APC) is a division of the ARF. The APC reviews the Graded and Listed races of each affiliated Country on an annual basis.

South Africa’s International Ratings for the previous three years were reviewed prior to the assessment in August 2017 by the APC.

After evaluation by the APC, the SA Nursery (Grade 1) fell short of the requirements in terms of the APC guidelines and was downgraded to Grade 2 for 2018. The shortfall was based on the Average Annual Race rating for the race over a four year period. The Annual Race Rating is determined on the best rating achieved in a Graded or Listed race of the first four finishers during the season.

Should circumstances change and the quality of the runners improve over the next few years, an application may be made to upgrade the race.