For some time, the Australian racing industry has been seeking to have Racing Australia(RA) resolve the current impasse around the Australian Black Type rules and pattern.
There has been no movement for almost nine years and the Australian pattern has been effectively frozen.
During that time, Racing NSW has advocated for and utilised its effective veto vote to push a “ratings based only” set of pattern guidelines not used elsewhere internationally, based on the claim that the Australian pattern guidelines used for more than 40 years previously were in breach of Australian competition law.
This was, at the outset, seen by many as an invalid legal argument and rejected by Racing Victoria (and is considered to be completely without merit if the pattern is managed by a pattern committee that is independent or separate from Racing Australia).The dispute had its origins around the time the Everest was proposed , with a request by Racing NSW at the time that the new race be immediately classified as a Group 1, which was rejected.
This has all culminated in the Asian Racing Federation (ARF) yesterday proposing to take over the Australian pattern.
A new Australian industry body, called the Australian Racing Industry Alliance (ARIA),was formed recently to help find a solution to this impasse, which everyone recognises has been caused by the ongoing dysfunction at Racing Australia.
ARIA has sought to lobby the ARF to fix the problem, following an ultimatum delivered by the ARF to Racing Australia threatening to take over the Australian pattern and even demote Australia from Part 1 of the Blue Book.
ARIA is now the effective representative of all the major investors, participants and stakeholders in Australian racing.
It includes all the major breeder bodies, including Thoroughbred Breeders Australia (TBA), Thoroughbred Breeders NSW and Thoroughbred Breeders Victoria, both major Australian auction houses in William Inglis and Magic Millions, the Australian Trainers Association, the Thoroughbred Racehorse Owners Association and the respected ex Chair of Racing Australia and Racing NSW, John Messara.
ARIA has proposed that Australia has an independent pattern committee and a set of conventional pattern guidelines that are in line with those used in all other racing jurisdictions and not the “ratings based only” guidelines proposed by Racing NSW , which are not used elsewhere in the world.
Under the ARIA proposal, which is also supported by Racing Victoria, an independent pattern committee will be selected annually by an independent pattern committee selection panel (the Australian Pattern Panel (APP)), operating independently and separately from Racing Australia.
The APP would be separately constituted as a not-for-profit entity with 18 permanent voting members and a constitution with proper governance and succession planning for those voting members. It would include nominees of breeders and sales companies, as well as three PRA nominees. The intention would be for this to run under the auspices of Racing Australia, but this has been rejected by Racing NSW.
Therefore, ARIA recently approached the ARF to have that proposed independent pattern panel take over the management of the Australian pattern as the counter party to the APC, until Racing Australia agrees to join the new protocols.
The ARF has now effectively proposed to take over the Australian pattern on a temporary basis, based on “exceptional circumstances”.
This will only be acceptable to the Australian industry, as led by ARIA, if the dysfunction at Racing Australia is bypassed, with a conventional set of pattern guidelines that are not “ratings based only” and with proper input from Australian experts on breeding and the pattern.
ARIA Chairman, Jonathan Munz said: “Racing Australia has been heavily criticised and the current situation is an embarrassment. It cannot be in charge of putting together a set of experts on breeding and the pattern to advise the APC. You don’t empower the organisation that has been accused of botching a process to fix that process or to execute a remediation plan. The members of ARIA have the credibility and expertise to form or select the advisory group to help the APC, whereas it is considered that simply is not the case at Racing Australia.”
Arrowfield Stud owner and ex- Chairman of Racing Australia and Racing NSW, John Messara said:
" I sincerely hope that Racing Australia will eventually agree that the Australian racing industry requires internationally compliant black type rules and an independent Australian pattern committee.
"We cannot have the current situation, where races are listed by Racing Australia as having been upgraded or as "new" stakes races, when they do not qualify to appear as such in our sales catalogues.
"Ultimately, the industry needs appropriate pattern guidelines complying with international norms and taking into account that Australia is a federated system with multiple state jurisdictions.
"In that regard , it is also important to note that a "ratings based only" set of pattern guidelines would be inconsistent with the Asian Pattern Committee Ground Rules , which specifically require a pattern committee to take into account “all factors that include more than race ratings or statistical analysis, such as the effect on the shape of the Pattern in the country concerned and the effect on the shape of the entire Asian Racing Federation Pattern, as well as circumstances that may impact the race rating of a specific race.” and that each committee member needs to “exercise good judgement to every grading decision”.
"For the sake of the Australian racing industry and its international reputation, I am hoping that the current circumstances present a catalyst for a peaceful settlement of this whole issue between all parties.”
