Talkin Sport - Changes to New Zealand protest rules and track ratings

Tabcorp customers are advised of recent changes to New Zealand thoroughbred racing protest rules and its track rating system.

A key factor behind the changes introduced by the New Zealand Racing Board has been to provide greater consistency for punters betting on New Zealand racing on both sides of the Tasman.

NSW and Victorian TAB punters bet $257 million on New Zealand thoroughbred racing in 2007/08. Tabcorp covered 4375 thoroughbred, harness and greyhound races from New Zealand in 2007/08.

Protest rule (876)

A new protest rule, which became effective on 1 July 2008, means that connections of a ‘protesting horse’ have to convince the judicial committee that if the interference had not occurred their horse would have finished ahead of the horse that caused the interference.

The rule takes out much of the discretionary element of protest decisions and will avoid the anomalous situation where a winning horse is relegated several places behind one which was clearly not going to beat it in the race.

The rule also changes the criteria for a protest. A protest can now be lodged by the connections of a horse that finished or had the potential to finish, in the event of a successful protest, in a stakes bearing position and not only a dividend bearing position.

According to the New Zealand Racing Board, the rule aligns New Zealand with its co-mingling partners (SuperTAB) and provides consistency for Australian and New Zealand punters in the treatment of horses involved in a protest.

Thoroughbred track rating system trial

A new system of grading thoroughbred track conditions is now on trial in New Zealand. The trial will run until the end of September and, if supported by the industry, will remain in place indefinitely.

The trial replaces the five track grades from Fast to Heavy to an 11-scale system, similar to the one deployed in NSW and Victoria. During the trial a horse’s form sheet, will continue to reflect its performance on the five grade Fast to Heavy scale.

The track rating scales being trialed for New Zealand thoroughbred racing are:

SCALE	RATING	PENETROMETER BAND	COMMENT
1	Fast	0.5 – 1.9	A dry hard track
2	Good	2.0 – 2.2	A firm track
3	Good	2.3 – 2.5	Ideal track with some give
4	Dead	2.6 – 2.8	Track with give, better side of Genuine Dead
5	Dead	2.9 – 3.2	Genuine Dead
6	Dead	3.3 – 3.5	Significant amount of give, worst side of Genuine Dead
7	Slow	3.6 – 3.8	A mildly rain affected track, better side of Genuine Slow
8	Slow	3.9 – 4.2	Genuine Slow
9	Slow	4.3 – 4.5	Rain affected, worse side of Genuine Slow
10	Heavy	4.6 – 5.5	Genuine Heavy
11	Heavy	5.6+	Very soft and wet, heaviest category