The new track-ratings system for thoroughbred racing throughout the country will ‘officially’ start on December 1.
The numerical 1 – 10 system has been retained, as expected, with a new set of descriptive terms to be used.
The Australian Racing Board (ARB) yesterday confirmed the system would be used Australia-wide from December 1, as had been the expectation within the industry for several months.
The new system starts at ‘firm 1’ and goes through until ‘heavy 10’, with the removal of the terms ‘fast’, ‘dead’ and ‘slow’, replaced by ‘firm’ and ‘soft’.
The ARB’s Peter McGauran said the new system was more positive, clear and modern for punters, while Racing Victoria’s Greg Carpenter said it was a positive step for the industry.
The new track rating system is as follows:
Rating Numerical Description of numerical rating
Firm 1 Dry hard track
Firm 2 Firm track with
Good 3 Track with good grass coverage and cushion
Good 4 Track with some give in it
Soft 5 Track with a reasonable amount of give in it
Soft 6 Moist but not badly affected track
Soft 7 More rain-affected track that will chop out
Heavy 8 Rain affected track that horses will get into
Heavy 9 Wet track getting into a squelchy area
Heavy 10 Heaviest category track, very wet, towards saturation