HANDICAPPING RATINGS UPDATE

Joburg Spring Challenge (Grade 2)

Unbeaten three-year-old MOUNT PLEASANT has had his merit rating raised from 112 to 127 after his defeat of some high class older rivals in the Grade 2 Joburg Spring Challenge over 1450m on the Turffontein inside track on Saturday 3 October. The Handicappers felt that 5th placed ZOUAVES was highly unlikely to have run below his rating in a race of this calibre and accordingly used him as the line horse. As such, his rating remains unchanged on 116.

Runner-up CIRILLO and 3rd finisher CHIMICHURI RUN also remain unaltered, on 127 and 126 respectively, but 4th placed RIVERSTOWN goes up from 111 to 117. There were no other increases, however, three horses were given a ratings’ drop. TIERRA DEL FUEGO was trimmed from 123 to 122, D’ARRIVEE drops from 104 to 102, and CLEVER GUY is down from 103 to 101.

Joburg Spring Fillies & Mares Challenge (Grade 2)

Undefeated three-year-old ANYTHING GOES has had her rating raised from 111 to 120 after she easily beat older females to win the Grade 2 Joburg Spring Fillies & Mares Challenge over 1450m on the Turffontein inside course on Saturday. Runner-up MAGIC SCHOOL was deemed to make for the best line horse when assessing this event and accordingly remains unchanged on a mark of 110.

The only other increase was for 4th placed SHIVERS, who is up from 99 to 105, as third finisher MOUNT LAUREL was left unchanged on 112, however, there were drops for three horses. MILL QUEEN was dropped from 112 to 111, WISTERIA WALK is down from 105 to 101 and WHAT YOU ARE was cut from 98 to 95.

Matchem Stakes (Grade 3)

KASIMIR remains unchanged on a mark of 128 after his narrow success in the Grade 3 Matchem Stakes over 1400m at Durbanville on Saturday. The Handicappers believed that 3rd placed READY STEADY GO made for the best line horse, which leaves his rating unchanged on 105, and in assessing the race in this way KASIMIR runs only to a mark of 112.

Runner-up MORE MAGIC was raised from 101 to 105, while in the only other increase SNOW REPORT goes from 99 to 101.

There were drops for four horses. MAJESTIC MOZART drops from 107 to 105, COUNT JACK is down from 110 to 108, TAP O’ NOTH was dropped to 109 from 110, and lastly, TWIST OF FATE was trimmed from 127 to 126.

Diana Stakes (Grade 3)

Smart three-year-old CAPTAIN’S RANSOM has seen her rating increased from 94 to 116 after she finished strongly to beat some talented older rivals in the Grade 3 Diana Stakes for fillies and mares over the Durbanville 1400m on Saturday. In choosing a line horse, the Handicappers opted to use runner-up CLOUDS UNFOLD to the 121 she achieved when winning the Majorca Stakes in February, which was the highest rating she achieved when racing against her own gender last season.

In light of this, CLOUDS UNFOLD was given a ratings’ drop here and is down from 126 to 124. This was the only ratings decrease for any runner in the race, but there were raises for several others.

4th placed SING OUT LOUD is up from 100 to 105, ICON PRINCESS was raised from 100 to 104, CAYA COCO is up from 88 to 104 and lastly, OUR PRIZED JEWEL was raised to 92 to 89.