HANDICAPPING RATINGS UPDATE

Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes (Grade 2)

TRIP OF FORTUNE has had his rating raised from 125 to 127 after winning the Grade 2 Independent On Saturday Drill Hall Stakes over 1400m on the turf course at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday 6 May. The Handicappers were of the view that 5th placed BINGWA had at least equaled the mark of 118 he ran to when finishing fifth behind the same winner in the Grade 1 H F Oppenheimer Horse Chestnut Stakes at Turffontein in early April and used that as the benchmark when assessing the Drill Hall Stakes. BINGWA himself was given a small drop here and is down from 123 to 122.

Aside from the winner the only other ratings increase was for 2nd placed GIMME A PRINCE, who is up from 123 to 125.

In addition to BINGWA there were ratings drops for three other horses. AL MUTHANA drops from 133 to 132, SILVER OPERATOR is down from 117 to 116, while BATTLE FORCE drops to 109 from 111.

WSB Fillies Guineas (Grade 2)

PEACH DAIQUIRI has had her rating raised from 98 to 106 after she won the Grade 2 WSB Fillies Guineas over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday. The Handicappers noted that 2nd placed SAARTJIE and 3rd finisher HOLD MY HAND replicated their form of their previous meeting in the Listed Cape Oaks at Hollywoodbets Kenilworth in February and used both to assess the Fillies Guineas. Accordingly, they both remain unchanged on 105 and 104, respectively.

Aside from the winner there were no ratings increases out of this race, and no horse was given a rating’s drop.

WSB Guineas (Grade 2)

CHARLES DICKENS remains unchanged on a mark of 132 after he landed the Grade 2 WSB Guineas over 1600m at Hollywoodbets Greyville on Saturday. Here it was 4th placed COUSIN CASEY who was used as the line horse, leaving him unchanged on a rating of 122. In assessing the race this way 2nd finisher SEE IT AGAIN confirmed his Grade 1 Cape Derby assessment of 124 here by beating Cousin Casey by 2 pounds or just under a length (0.9L), effectively making him a line horse as well and leaving him with an unaltered rating too.

The Handicappers observed that CHARLES DICKENS (132), who was rated to beat SEE IT AGAIN (124) by 4 lengths and COUSIN CASEY (122) by 5 lengths had only beaten those rivals by 2 lengths and 2.9 lengths respectively. This would imply that either CHARLES DICKENS had won the WSB Guineas easier than the margin and did not actually need to produce a 132 performance to win or that SEE IT AGAIN and COUSIN CASEY had improved by 4 pounds. The Handicappers opted to go with the former and accordingly CHARLES DICKENS only runs to 128 – which is a 4 pounds better performance than SEE IT AGAIN and 6 pounds better performance than COUSIN CASEY.

There were increases also for 3rd finisher DAVE THE KING, who goes up from 111 to 122, and for MELECH, who was raised from 97 to 107.

No horses from this race were given a rating’s drop.

WSB Gold Bowl (Grade 3)

FUTURE PEARL has had his rating raised from 100 to 106 after winning the Grade 3 WSB Gold Bowl over 3200m on the standside track at Turffontein on Sunday.

The Handicappers strongly believed that 2nd placed ARUMUGAM would not have run worse here than when finishing 3rd in a similar event over 2850m in April and used the 98 he actually achieved on that occasion to rate the Gold Bowl. However, as the specific conditions of both races do not permit for an increase in the rating of any horse other than the winner, ARUMUGAM still remains on a mark of 94 despite now achieving 98 twice in succession.

Likewise, the specific conditions of the Gold Bowl do not allow for a more than a six-pound increase to the winner’s rating so the Handicappers were obliged to cap FUTURE PEARL at 106 even though he actually ran to a mark of 108.

Two horses were given small rating’s drop. 3rd placed FLYING FIRST CLASS is down from 88 to 87, while 4th finisher ELECTRIC SURGE is down to 77 from 78.

Released by the NHA Handicapping Team