HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes (Grade 1)

SUMMER PUDDING remains unchanged on a rating of 129 following her success in the Grade 1 HSH Princess Charlene Empress Club Stakes for fillies and mares over 1600m on WFA terms on the Turffontein standside track on Saturday 17 April.

The Handicappers opted to use 3rd placed LADY OF STEEL as the line horse here, and in rating this way SUMMER PUDDING only runs to a mark of 116. Runner-up RUNNING BRAVE also runs below her rating of 119, achieving a mark of 114, and therefore also remains unchanged. It was felt that, as the first two were clearly superior to the rest and pulled clear of the 3rd horse, that to use either the winner or runner-up to assess the race would inflate the numbers being achieved by every other horse in the field. Hence, a more conservative approach was deemed advisable.

This notwithstanding, there were ratings increases for three runners. 4th finisher WISTERIA WALK is up from 107 to 110, RIO’S WINTER goes from 104 to 108, and SEEHAAM goes from 100 to 107. All three of these horses would therefore meet LADY OF STEEL on the correct terms were they to clash in a handicap race.

There were also drops for three runners. MARYGOLD was trimmed from 105 to 104, KELPIE is down from 115 to 110, and ROUGE ALLURE was dropped to 95 from 96.


East Cape Oaks (Listed)

SWAZI QUEEN has had her rating raised from 76 to 100 after she narrowly beat the 100-rated runner-up COLORADO SPRINGS to win the Listed East Cape Oaks for three-year-old fillies over 2000m on the Fairview Polytrack on Friday 16 April. The race was moved from the turf course after overnight rain.

The Handicappers were unanimous in their view that there was no justification for allocating a rating to SWAZI QUEEN lower than that of the runner-up, having beaten COLORADO SPRINGS at level weights, but opted to rate them as equals given that there was only a short head between them at the line.

The only change was for 3rd placed UPPER TEN, who is up from 77 to 85. No horses were given a rating’s drop following this event.


Glenlair Trophy (Handicap) (Listed)

MISS ORANGE has had her rating raised from 94 to 97 following her win in the Listed Glenlair Trophy (handicap) over 2750m on the Fairview Polytrack on Friday. The race was originally scheduled to be run over 2800m on the turf course, but the distance was shortened slightly when the meeting was switched to the Polytrack.

It was runner-up ARANJUEZ who was deemed to make for the most suitable line horse, leaving him unchanged on a mark of 91. Unusually, there was a tripled dead-heat for 3rd place. There was no change for SILVER SKY, but WARRIOR BLING (who was 2 pounds or 1 kg under sufferance and carried 1 kg overweight on top of that) goes up from 79 to 82 as a result. The other 3rd finisher, SAN VERDE, was fully 16 pounds or 8 kgs under sufferance at the weights and accordingly has had his rating raised from 63 to 80.

There were no other ratings increases or decreases following this race.


World Sports Betting Scarlet Lady (Listed)

SHE’S A KEEPER has had her rating raised from 84 to 90 after she comfortably won the Listed Scarlet Lady for fillies and mares over 1750m at Scottsville on Sunday 18 April. It was 3rd placed KEEP ON DANCING who was used as the line horse, leaving her on a mark of 78.

The specific conditions of this event do not allow for the ratings of placed horses to be raised, and so runner-up SCENTED MISTRESS remains on 91 despite running to a mark of 92. However, there were ratings drops for three horses. MASTER KEYS is down from 87 to 84, JACQUELINE drops from 86 to 83, and STELVIO is down from 84 to 81.


World Sports Betting Sledgehammer (Listed)

CROWN TOWERS remains unchanged on a mark of 115 following his victory in the Listed Sledgehammer over 1750m at Scottsville on Sunday. It was CROWN TOWERS himself who was used as the line horse here, hence his unaltered rating.

Here too, the specific race conditions do not allow for an increase in the ratings of placed horses. Accordingly, 2nd placed BLACK KNAP and 3rd finisher SHAVOUT remain unchanged on ratings of 98 and 87 respectively, despite running to marks of 105 and 96, respectively.

The only drop was for BLACKBALL, who is down slightly from 111 to 110.