Bwana Macube
The KZN Winter Challenge finals will be run amongst the competitive glitz and glamour of our very best horses on the Gr1 Gold Challenge raceday at Clairwood this Saturday.
The series is designed to give the average handicapper an opportunity to compete for a generous stake cheque and glory. The Challenge ran from 22 January to 12 May 2013. The stake per final is R150 000,with trainers also incentivised to earn a bonus.
The three finals will be run as follows:
- Race-6 R 150 000 1600m, KZN WINTER CHALLENGE 1600
- Race-9 R 150 000 2000m, KZN WINTER CHALLENGE 2000
- Race-10 R 150 000 1200m, KZN WINTER CHALLENGE 1200
The qualifying conditions and races were as follows:
All Handicap races (excluding features) run in KwaZulu-Natal between 22 January 2013 and 12 May 2013counted as qualifying races to earn points, provided that the net Merit Rating of a horse (after WFA Allowance) did not exceed 94 in the race in which it participated.
A horse that won a Maiden race in KZN needed to run in one further qualifying race between 22 January 2013 and 12 May 2013 to qualify to be entered to run in any of the finals. Horses that won a Maiden race outside of KZN needed to run in two further qualifying races.
Qualifiers ran for normal stakes but in addition earned qualifying points as follows:
- 1st: 7 points
- 2nd: 5 points
- 3rd: 4 points
- 4th: 3 points
- 5th: 2 points
- 6th: 1 point
Any horse that was pre-entered before 18 January immediately earned 5 bonus qualifying points. The general concept was that the more points earned by a horse, the greater the chance to run in the finals.
A trainer incentive bonus of R35 000 is payable to Trainers whose pre-entered horses finish in the top 3 positions on the final log on 12 May 2013 as follows:
- 1st: R20 000
- 2nd: R10 000
- 3rd: R5 000
In the event of a tie for first and/or second positions, the bonus payable will be totalled and split equally. In the event of a tie for third position, the bonus payable will be split equally. Points will be earned by any qualifier finishing in the first six places (irrespective of distance) and will count towards any final.
