The secret's out - new handicapping formula revealed

I don't know how many people got to attend the handicapping consultation forums held in Launceston and Hobart last week, but details of the proposals seem to have been kept under tight wraps for some reason.

Seemingly they had to be 'explained' at these forums rather than released beforehand so that people knew what it was they were going to be consulted on and could give it some thought, which is a bit strange, really, since the new system is described as 'streamlined and simplified' and much more user-friendly for owners, trainers and punters.

Possibly because of the fact that Queensland is at the tail end of the forum schedule and the cat's already out of the bag via the other States, Harness Racing Queensland has just taken the revolutionary approach of telling industry participants ahead of time what it is they are going to be consulted on.

So, if you missed out on attending in person, you can now read the summary of the HRA Integrity Rules & Handicapping Committee recommendations on handicapping which Harness Racing Queensland has been kind enough to make available.

There's some interesting changes afoot, including -

• no penalties for 2yos carrying over into subsequent seasons
• horses automatically drop back one class after 10 non-winning starts (but not further than R1, C1 or M1)
• there is no 3MA scale in the new system
  
• 3yos will not get an M penalty until they win an M0 race, so 3yo feature races such as Derbies, Sires Stakes Finals will only attract a C penalty

There's a lot more detail in the published summary, but these are the major shifts away from the present system.

What do you think? It's taken a long time to produce these recommendations; did they get it right?

Brenda Bourne