Canada's Graded Stakes Committee releases 2014 listed, graded stakes

Canada's Graded Stakes Committee releases 2014 listed,

graded stakes

The Jockey Club of Canada's Graded Stakes Committee held

its annual review of the graded and listed stakes in Canada and, while the number

of graded stakes in Canada remains unchanged at 43, there is one notable

downgrade for 2014.

The Graded Stakes Committee meeting -- conducted by Committee

Chair Jeff Begg with all committee members as well as Chief Steward Jim Lawson

and the race secretaries from Hastings, Northlands Park and Woodbine

-- was held on Tuesday.

The committee evaluates

and reviews the graded stakes in Canada annually and determines whether races

should be upgraded, downgraded or remain the same. The committee bases its decisions on the cumulative NARC ratings for five consecutive years along with

the new Race Quality Score (RQS) figures introduced last year by the North

American International Catalogue Standards Committee (NAICSC).

Graded stakes in North America must carry the following

minimum purses and minimum cumulative NARC: $250,000 and 112 NARC for Grade 1;

$150,000 and 105 NARC for Grade 2; and $100,000 and 100 NARC for Grade 3.

After reviewing the NARC and RQS figures for all graded and

listed races in Canada, the committee determined that the Grade 1 Nearctic at Woodbine would be downgraded to Grade 2 status in 2014. The status for

all other graded and listed stakes in Canada will remain unchanged in 2014. Canada will host four Grade 1s,

16 Grade 2s and 23 Grade 3 races in 2014.

In 2013 the Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee

was made responsible for evaluating all listed stakes in Canada using the same

evaluation process mentioned above. All listed races in North America must have

a minimum purse of $75,000 and a minimum cumulative NARC of 90.

Changes to the requirements for stakes in North America to

receive non-listed black type in SITA catalogs (those compliant with

guidelines required by the Society of International Thoroughbred Auctioneers [SITA])

were implemented by the NAISCS on New Year's Day.

The primary change to the requirements was the

implementation of the RQS as an additional quality control

for non-listed black-type races in North America.

The RQS is the average of the Annual Race Quality Score for

each of a race's last three renewals. The Annual Race Quality Score is the

combination of the speed figures assigned to a race by Bloodstock Research

Information Services (BRIS), Daily Racing Form (Beyer), Equibase and Thoro-Graph,

and is calculated within 30 days after the date of the race. The speed figure

assigned to a race is the average of the speed figure assigned to each of the

top four placed horses in the race.

Non-listed black-type races that receive an RQS below the

minimum age/sex requirements and have a three-year cumulative RQS below the

minimum requirements will automatically lose their black-type status without

evaluation.

The Jockey Club of Canada Graded Stakes Committee has been made

responsible for informing host racetracks of any black-type races that do not

meet the RQS requirement and subsequently have lost their black-type status. The

committee also communicates a warning to host tracks if a stakes is at risk

of losing their black-type status in any given year.

Following its meeting, the committee reported

that the following stakes races in Canada have lost black-type status effective

2014:

The following black-type stakes are at risk of losing

their black-type status in 2015 if the minimum age/sex RQS and the minimum

cumulative RQS is not achieved in 2014:

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