The National Horseracing Authority said on Tuesday in a statement that they are receiving various queries regarding the Championship at the end of the 2020/21 season.
They have drawn stakeholder attention to their Press Release issued on 9 July 2019 as this criteria still applies.
At the current time the Equus organisers have Suzette Viljoen as champion, while the NHA’s directive suggests that Chris van Niekerk is the champion, as restricted races appear to be included in owner stats.
Either way, it’s a bad situation after over a century of horseracing in SA.
The NHA press release is quoted below:
The National Horseracing Authority (NHA) is the custodian of the results for thoroughbred races in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
It was ratified by the National Board of the NHA in May 2015 that stakes earned by horses competing in restricted races are excluded from the national statistics.
Suzette Viljoen- soon to be crowned Equus Champion Owner Of The Year? Pictured with Richard Fourie (Pic- Candiese Lenferna)
As a result, this ruling applies when determining the CHAMPION BREEDER, CHAMPION STALLION and CHAMPION TRAINER.
The decision to exclude the stakes of restricted races from the national statistics was motivated by the view that such races may potentially influence the log positions based on its “closed” nature.
The same rule applies to bonuses linked to all sales.
Restricted races are defined as those in which participants are confined:
- to horses born or raised in a particular area or are the progeny of stallions of a particular area; or
- to graduates of specific sales; or
- to horses selected on the basis of some arbitrary criteria.
The above does not apply to owners and jockeys, as all owners have the right to buy and compete where they want to and that jockeys are at liberty to accept engagements as and where they wish (open).
As a result, restricted race stakes are included for owners and jockeys.
- Media release by NHA on Tuesday 3 August 2021
