Part 2: Raising the Bar on Quality

This is the second of a two-part series on establishing quality classifications of Thoroughbreds in North America

Purse money has traditionally been what determined the quality of stakes races in North America. Fueled by the growth of off-track betting and casino gaming, however, racetracks through the mid-1990s and early 2000s began offering a proliferation of lower-end black-type stakes, creating a disparity between purse value and the quality that black-type status should convey.

Rebuilding the connection between black-type status and quality among non-listed stakes required a new approach.

Black type literally means allowing the winners of approved races to have their names printed in bold type and all capital letters in a sales catalog or in bold type and mixed case for horses that place in these races. Black-type status is an international solution to the vexing problem of creating a consistent and reliable method for evaluating the racing quality of stallions and mares or in assessing an auction prospect's potential. 

Dealing with non-listed, black-type stakes is a challenge unique to the United States and Canada. These races came into existence in 1985, when black-type rules were implemented in North America, as a means of putting black-type opportunities in the U.S. and Canada on par with Europe, which assigns black-type status to only group and listed stakes but runs substantially fewer races.

"All of a sudden we had to work out the quality of these races because the number of non-listed, black-type races had exploded," said Geoffrey Russell, sales director for Keeneland, which is a member of the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers. SITA formed in 1983 to create uniform standards for both buyers and sellers at Thoroughbred auctions worldwide.

"We began seeing a lot of $50,000 stakes that really weren't black-type quality and wanted to be sure the right quality of horses were getting black type so that quality would be reflected in our catalogs," he said.

To address the problem, the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee introduced a new scoring system in 2012 that monitors the quality of non-listed stakes annually and automatically grants or revokes black-type status depending on whether a minimum standard is met.

Monitor the black-type status of non-listed stakes at the NAICSC website

All 1,256 non-listed stakes run in North America since 2014 are set up to receive a Race Quality Score when they're run. The RQS is a composite of speed figures calculated for the top four finishers of a given race by Bloodstock Research Information Services, Daily Racing Form (Beyer Speed Figure), Equibase, and Thoro-Graph. Each race has two scores: an annual score and a rolling three-year average RQS.

For a race to retain its black-type status, its rolling three-year average RQS must be above the minimum score for the appropriate age/sex category. Minimum scores have been set for six categories: 2-year-old males and females, 3-year-old males and females, and 3-year-olds-and-up males and females. If the three-year average falls short, then the race can only retain black-type status if its most recent annual score is above an established minimum.

The minimum-score benchmarks were set through an evaluation of more than 10,000 races over a five-year period. These scores also account for the time of the year for maturing 2-year-olds and 3-year-olds, according to Andy Schweigardt, administrator for the American Graded Stakes Committee, which is responsible for evaluating and assigning grades to the highest-quality U.S. races and also for assigning listed status to qualified stakes.

A non-listed stakes that doesn't meet the minimum thresholds loses its black-type status for the following year. A race can also lose its black-type status if it is not run for two consecutive years. For turf races, the three most recent runnings on the grass are used to calculate its RQS. If a former turf race gets moved to the main track for a period of five consecutive years, then its most recent three runnings on dirt become the basis for its RQS.

Once a race loses its black-type status, it must be run for at least two consecutive years and its average RQS and its most recent annual RQS must exceed the minimum thresholds to regain its status.

"There is no authority that can tell racetracks when they can or can't write a stakes, and nobody is trying to tell them that," said Carl Hamilton, chairman of both the North American International Cataloguing Standards Committee and the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee. "What we are trying to do is establish that for black-type, a stakes must meet a minimum quality level."

Through July 12, the U.S. had 1,061 non-listed stakes with black-type status for the 2016 racing year. Of these stakes, 267 will keep their black-type status for 2017 and 787 have their status pending. The 787 races pending include 529 that have not run yet in 2016, another 112 that were not run at the same time this year as they were in 2015, and 122 races that haven't been run since 2014.

Also on the list are 195 races that did not have black-type status for 2016. Of these, 68 won't be eligible for black type in 2017 and 117 have their status pending. Ten races without black type this year will have their status restored in 2017.

"Clearly the status of stakes is fluid, but I think the rating system is very effective," said Russell. "The people who worked on (the RQS) came up with a fair and equitable system. Notice of the change was given, and racetracks are encouraged that if they are going to make new races, they should be well announced and not just overnights so we can get the best horses in them. That is what a black-type race is meant to have, to showcase quality horses."

Checking the Listed

The push in 2012 for better quality control among stakes focused on more than just non-listed stakes. 

Beginning with the grading session for the 2013 racing year, the American Graded Stakes Committee and the Canadian Graded Stakes Committee assumed the responsibility of evaluating and assigning the status to listed stakes, just as they regularly have done with graded stakes. Prior to 2013, listed races were stakes races that met certain requirements and paid a minimum purse of $75,000; no evaluation was required. Listed status is important because these races are eligible for elevation to graded stakes.

"Listed stakes are now compared against their peers in each of the 14 graded stakes divisions (seven male, seven female)," said Schweigardt. "It is not the same standard across all listed races; it is division-specific." 

The AGSC during its 2015 grading session assigned listed status to 173 of 324 eligible races. Another 151 races that were eligible for grading were not assigned listed status.

North America is unique in its approach to evaluating graded stakes. Most other countries use ratings developed by handicappers employed by the racing authorities. An international group of handicappers also meets twice a year to review the ratings for horses above a certain level to achieve international harmonization, according to Hamilton.

In the U.S., the AGSC uses an allowance-based evaluation system that considers the current year ratings produced by the North American Rating Committee with other criteria, including quality points, which reflect the highest graded race won by each starter in a race over a four-year period, covering two years before the race and two years after; the percentage of graded stakes winners in a field; and performance points, which indicate how all the starters in a given race performed in non-restricted black-type stakes up to 24 months before and after the race being evaluated.

"The American Graded Stakes Committee is always looking at its process and looking for ways to improve the evaluation, but I think our process matches the racing culture in the U.S.," said Schweigardt.

With the relative quality of listed and non-listed stakes now being regularly evaluated, the goal of giving equal weight to black-type stakes within a specific classification is closer than ever. 

"We're trying to be sure there is uniformity among the sales companies, so when you go to each sale--for any given horse that may go through those sales--the quality and how that black type is represented is the same," Hamilton said.