The methodology that appears to have been used by the panelists to decide the Equus 2026 equine awards could bring to the table something that has in the past been lacking i.e. consistency.
In order for the statistics to be correctly interpreted, the panelists need to be racing aficionados, or purists, who know the sport and its traditions inside out and who have a sound knowledge of handicapping.
Such aficionados will also know when discretion is necessary, which it must be on occasion.
The current panel has some of the most respected racing aficionados in the land.
Thus, no holes at all could be punched into their decisions.
A precedent has been set, which should be followed in future to ensure consistent decisions.
Taking a look at the awards, sound racing decisions were made and none of them were whimsical.
The two-year-old filly award was potentially contentious and some might have disagreed with it,
It was a choice between a horse who had won two Gr 2s, i.e. Palace Of Avernia, versus one who had won a Gr 2 and a Gr 3 and had beaten Palace Of Arvernia in the Gr 2, i.e. Get Up, and an unbeaten horse who had won one Gr 2 easily and had also won two Listed races, i.e. Marchland.
In past years Get Up and Marchland would have likely competed for the award as winners respectively of the Allan Robertson Championship and Douglas Whyte Thekwini Stakes, because in the past both of those races were Gr 1s, while the races Palace Of Avernia won, i.e. the Amusnet Golden Slipper and World Pool With Race Coast Debutante have both been Gr 2s for a long time.
That is probably why the announcement of Palace Of Arvernia as the winner initially came as a surprise to some, because there becomes an ingrained association with the status of certain races.
However, at closer inspection the panelists look to have got it right because Palace Of Arvernia was the only one to have won two Gr 2s.
The panelists wouldn’t have ignored the argument that Get Up comfortably beat Palace Of Arvernia in the Allan Robertson (by 4,85 lengths), but they might have taken into account that Get Up was beaten in the only other Gr 2 she ran in.
There was also an argument for Marchland. She was unbeaten in four starts in the season and won the Thekwini by 3,30 lengths on top of winning two Listed races, the highest class of race available to her in the East Cape, with consummate ease.
The panelists opted for the only horse to have won two Gr 2s and it was likely a wise choice, because consistency can then be maintained in future rather than the scenario of deciding some awards by discretion and others by statistics.
Some would then question how Holding Thumbs was given the Stayer’s Award when the statistics viewed from one angle marginally favoured Ahead Of The Facts.
Ahead Of The Facts had two Gr 3 wins and a Listed win plus a Listed second, a Gr 3 second and a Gr 3 fourth;
Holding Thumbs also had two Gr 3 wins and a Listed win, but he only had a Gr 3 third as far as places went.
However, when Holding Thumbs won his Gr 3 in Cape Town he gave Ahead Of The Facts a whopping 11kg and a shorthead beating, when he won the Gr 3 Gold Cup he faced Ahead Of The Facts on weight for age terms and beat him by a cosy 2,10 lengths.
Ahead Of The Facts beat Holding Thumbs by 3,75 lengths on 1kg terms better than wfa in the Gr 3 New Turf Carriers Western Cape Stayers and he beat Holding Thumbs by 3,40 lengths in the Gr 3 Gold Vase when 1kg better off than weight for age and
Therefore, Holding Thumbs’ form in the highest Grade they raced i.e. Gr 3 was cumulatively superior to Ahead Of The Facts’.
Holding Thumbs also won the traditionally most prestigious of the Gr 3 staying races in the country.
For The Horse Of The Year there were four horses who had won two Gr 1s during the season, See It Again, Buffalo Storm Cody, Wish List and Double Grand Slam.
In the eyes of all racing aficionados open wfa Gr 1s take precedence and that immediately eliminated both Wish List, who won a wfa Gr 1 restricted to females and a three-year-old classic Gr 1, and Double Grand Slam, who won two wfa Gr 1s restricted to females.
Both See It Again’s and Buffalo Storm Cody’s two Gr 1 wins were of open wfa races.
Open wfa races over classic distances usually take precedence over sprint races for such awards, but not always as was seen when Romantic Warrior and Ka Ying Rising shared the Hong Kong Horse Of The Year title in their recent racing awards.
However, even if See It Again’s two open wfa Gr 1 wins over 2000m did not take precedence over Buffalo Storm Cody’s respective 1000m and 1200m wins, then See It Again also had an open Gr 1 wfa second and an open Gr 1 wfa third, while Buffalo Storm Cody only ran seventh in the other open Gr 1 wfa race he contested.
Neither horse won any other stakes race.
See It Again thus looked a shoe-in and the night’s MC, Clyde Basel, revealed the decision had been unanimous.
The Champion Miler was Questioning, who won one open wfa Gr 1 over the trip and was a short-head second in another open wfa Gr 1 over the trip. No other horse had a record in open wfa Gr 1 miles that could match him,
Both Double Grand Slam and Quickstepgal did each win two Gr 1s over the trip in restricted company.
Double Grand Slam’s Gr 1 mile wins were in two female wfa Gr 1s.
Quickstepgal’s Gr 1 mile wins were in a three-year-old classic for females and a Gr 1 wfa race for females.
Questioning performances in open wfa Gr1s were given precedence.
With that said the choice of Champion Three-year-old Colt/Gelding, appears to have gone against this thinking.
However, this award provided a good example of discretion being needed.
Tin Pan Alley was the only three-year-old to win an open wfa Gr 1 and he beat no fewer than six Gr 1 winners when he did it, including second-placed See It Again by 3,75 lengths.
He had also won the Gr 2 Jo’Burg Spring Challenge against older horses and won the Gr 3 Graham Beck Stakes.
However, he was just too inconsistent to be named Champion Three-year-old colt/gelding.
His Mile form included that one amazing performance in an open wfa race, but otherwise consisted of an unplaced run in the Highveld’s traditionally most prestigious three-year-old mile event, The Gr 2 Jackpot City Dingaans, an unplaced run in the Gr 2 Gauteng Guineas, a defeat in the Gr 2 WSB Guineas to Star Major, the only time they met, and a 15,85 length last place finish in the Gr 1 Hollywoodbets Gold Challenge.
Star Major, on the other hand, had clearly blossomed into a fine horse by the end of the season to win the WSB Guineas and Gr 1 Daily News 2000 in fine style.
It was not a vintage three-year-old crop and by the end of the season he was the standout, not only beating Tin Pan Alley, but also beating Note To Self by three lengths in the Daily News.
Note To Self made himself a contender for the award by winning the Gr 1 Hollywodbets Durban July, but when he beat Star Major in the Gr 1 Cape Derby he was only in second place … had he won the Cape Derby he would have been made Champion Three-year-old colt/gelding, but in the end it was Star Major’s Gr 1 Daily News 2000 win and his Gr 2 WSB win vs Note To Self winning a Gr 1 handicap … Star Major was thus preferred.
The three-year-old filly award saw twice Gr 1 winner Wish List ousting twice Gr 1 winner Quickstepgal and it went on her better overall record for the season.
The Champion Two-year-old male award saw two horses with Gr 1 wins, Haute Couture and Erik Dubois.
However, Haute Couture beat a much vaunted unbeaten horse in the Gr 1 Gold Medallion i.e. Rich Man’s World, and the pair were more than six lengths clear of the rest of the field.
That performance was preferred to the 0,30 length win of Erik Dubois in the Gr 1 World Pool Moment Of The Day Champion Stakes.
Double Grand Slam’s Champion Older female award and See It Again’s Champion Middle Distance and Champion Older Male awards were self explanatory.
Hopefully the precedent set by this year’s quality panelists will ensure consistency in the awards process for many years to come.
The full list of Equine Award winners are below:-
· Champion Two-Year-Old Filly: Palace of Arvernia
· Champion Two-Year-Old Colt/Gelding: Haute Couture
· Champion Three-Year-Old Filly: Wish List
· Champion Three-Year-Old Colt/Gelding: Star Major
· Champion Older Female: Double Grand Slam
· Champion Older Male: See It Again
· Champion Sprinter: Buffalo Storm Cody
· Champion Miler: Questioning
· Champion Middle Distance Horse: See It Again
· Champion Stayer: Holding Thumbs
· Horse Of The Year: See It Again
