Darryl Anderson 🇳🇿

Cancellation of race meeting on 20 September. #HKracing Press release 👉 racingnews.hkjc.com/english/…

1:06.11 new track record. Previous 1:07.10 Head wind in the straight. Unbelievable ! @HKJC_Racing #HKracing

🏇 Scratchings: Why Aren’t All States Doing What WA Does? I recently analysed scratching rates in metropolitan races across Australia over the past two seasons, and one state stood out clearly. The study excluded emergencies that may be scratched simply because they failed to make the final field. It looked only at horses initially declared within the advertised field limit. 📊 Percentage of those runners subsequently scratched: • WA: 6.2% • NT: 7.0% • TAS: 12.6% • SA: 15.2% • VIC: 18.4% • NSW: 23.4% • QLD: 25.1% That's a big variance across states. There are obviously many legitimate reasons why horses are scratched after acceptances. A horse may develop an issue, conditions can change, or connections may elect to run elsewhere. The decision to run elsewhere can be related to barrier draws. Trainers will often accept in two or more suitable races, wait to see the barriers, then scratch. Other times they will wait for a race the following week. 💰 Scratchings Come at a Cost to the Industry Large numbers of scratchings serve no useful purpose. They can: • Add costs for owners • Reduce clarity for punters • Discourage early betting activity • Create frustration through deductions • Change the nature of a race after markets have already begun trading. The industry should be doing whatever it can to reduce avoidable scratchings after final acceptances. 💡 WA Has a Different Approach One important difference in Western Australia is that barriers are allocated at the weights stage, before final acceptances. Connections therefore know their horse’s relative draw before deciding whether to accept. Once the final field is declared, barriers automatically compress while maintaining each horse’s relative position. That removes much of the “accept first and see what barrier we draw” approach and allows connections to make a more informed decision before entering the final field. There may be valid reasons why scratching rates differ between states, and barriers will always be only one part of the picture. But I think it is difficult to argue that post-acceptance scratching rates approaching 18%, 20% or 25% are desirable for the industry. It is also hard to ignore that WA, operating under this system, has by far the lowest scratching rate of the major jurisdictions in the data. That alone makes the model worthy of serious consideration elsewhere. ✅ An Easy Industry Win? If the WA model were adopted nationally, I would expect scratching rates to fall. Not every scratching can or should be prevented. Horse welfare, weather, track conditions and other legitimate factors will always produce changes after acceptances. That aside, other issues in racing on the East Coast, including dual acceptances and the large range of race options available for an individual horse, also play a key role in scratchings, but they're much more difficult to solve without infringing on a stable's natural right to choose what they think is the best option for their horse. But if barrier-related decisions can be made before horses enter the final field rather than afterwards, why wouldn't we facilitate that? Queensland is looking to trial the WA approach, and with 25% of initially declared metropolitan runners in this study subsequently scratched, there is a strong case for action. I struggle to see why every state shouldn't seriously consider the same system. It looks like relatively low-hanging fruit: a modest operational change that could provide greater certainty for owners, trainers, punters and wagering markets, while producing more stable final fields.

Rippanall takes the last at Hawera! 🏇 Sam Collett combines with Bill Thurlow to close out the domestic gallop action! Trackside.co.nz is the place to be 🙌