The Equus Horse Of The Year award looks to be a three-cornered fight between Princess Callas, Charles Dickens and See It Again, and it might be down to which credential voters view as more important: is it number of Trophies, amount of stakes, accumulative performance, official merit rating or even just gut feel?
If cumulative performance is the main criteria then one of the country’s most respected analysts, Karel Miedema, would likely plump for either Charles Dickens or See I Again.
According to Miedema’s ability ratings, Princess Calla, who is on top of the points table and the only horse to win three Gr 1s during the season, has only performed to an ability rating of 110 on one occasion.
Charles Dickens has performed to 110 or above on five occasions and is the only horse in Miedema’s ratings to have scored ability ratings of above 110 on two occasions.
See It Again has been analysed by Miedema to have performed at 110 or above on four occasions and, although he has only performed above 110 once, he was awarded the highest ability rating of the season. Miedema gave him a 120 for his Hollywoodbets Durban July runner up finish.
The below tables show all three horses’ runs for the season and the respective ability ratings awarded by Miedema.
Princess Calla
| date | track | distance | finish | lbh | stakes | grade | jockey | trainer | mass | MR | AR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul 2023 |
Greyville
|
1800m
|
1st |
1.30
|
781,250
|
1
|
R Fourie | SG Tarry |
57.5 aa
|
127
|
108
|
|
| 01 Jul 2023 |
Greyville
|
1600m
|
1st |
1.80
|
781,250
|
1
|
R Fourie | SG Tarry |
60.0 aa
|
127
|
109
|
|
| 03 Jun 2023 |
Scottsville
|
1200m
|
1st |
3.20
|
468,750
|
1
|
R Fourie | SG Tarry |
60.0 aa
|
127
|
110
|
|
| 29 Apr 2023 |
Turffontein
|
1000m
|
3rd |
2.05
|
100,000
|
1
|
G Lerena | SG Tarry |
57.5 aa
|
127
|
101
|
|
| 11 Mar 2023 |
Turffontein
|
1160m
|
1st |
5.25
|
250,000
|
2
|
R Fourie | SG Tarry |
57.5 aa
|
121
|
107
|
|
| 28 Jan 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
1000m
|
5th |
1.95
|
29,688
|
1
|
G Lerena | SG Tarry |
57.5 aa
|
121
|
99
|
|
| 07 Jan 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
1200m
|
1st |
0.75
|
207,813
|
2
|
G Lerena | SG Tarry |
60.0 aa
|
121
|
105
|
|
| 03 Dec 2022 |
Kenilworth
|
1000m
|
1st |
0.50
|
208,125
|
2
|
G Lerena | SG Tarry |
60.0 aa
|
121
|
103
|
Charles Dickens
| date | track | distance | finish | lbh | stakes | grade | jockey | trainer | mass | MR | AR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 Jun 2023 |
Greyville
|
1600m
|
1st |
1.40
|
1,093,750
|
1
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
58.5 aa
|
132
|
117
|
|
| 06 May 2023 |
Greyville
|
1600m
|
1st |
2.00
|
312,500
|
2
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
60.0 aa
|
132
|
110
|
|
| 25 Feb 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
2000m
|
2nd |
1.25
|
285,000
|
1
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
60.0 aa
|
132
|
108
|
|
| 07 Jan 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
1600m
|
2nd |
0.30
|
380,000
|
1
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
55.0 aa
|
128
|
115
|
|
| 17 Dec 2022 |
Kenilworth
|
1600m
|
1st |
4.25
|
1,187,500
|
1
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
60.0 aa
|
121
|
110
|
|
| 27 Nov 2022 |
Kenilworth
|
1400m
|
1st |
3.25
|
77,188
|
5
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
59.0 aa
|
115
|
108
|
|
| 22 Oct 2022 |
Kenilworth
|
1400m
|
1st |
3.00
|
148,750
|
3
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
59.0 aa
|
111
|
109
|
|
| 24 Sep 2022 |
Durbanville
|
1250m
|
1st |
3.25
|
59,375
|
5
|
A Domeyer | C Bass-Robinson |
60.0 aa
|
107
|
110
|
See It Again
| date | track | distance | finish | lbh | stakes | grade | jockey | trainer | mass | MR | AR | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jul 2023 |
Greyville
|
1800m
|
2nd |
1.30
|
250,000
|
1
|
P Strydom | ML Roberts |
58.5 baa
|
131
|
110
|
|
| 01 Jul 2023 |
Greyville
|
2200m
|
2nd |
0.25
|
940,000
|
1
|
P Strydom | ML Roberts |
56.5 baa
|
124
|
120
|
|
| 27 May 2023 |
Greyville
|
2000m
|
1st |
0.70
|
937,500
|
1
|
P Strydom | ML Roberts |
60.0 baa
|
124
|
110
|
|
| 06 May 2023 |
Greyville
|
1600m
|
2nd |
2.00
|
100,000
|
2
|
P Strydom | ML Roberts |
60.0 baa
|
124
|
106
|
|
| 25 Feb 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
2000m
|
1st |
1.25
|
890,625
|
1
|
P Strydom | ML Roberts |
60.0 baa
|
104
|
110
|
|
| 28 Jan 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
1600m
|
7th |
3.20
|
0
|
5
|
R A Venniker | ML Roberts |
60.0 aa
|
104
|
91
|
|
| 14 Jan 2023 |
Kenilworth
|
1400m
|
7th |
4.55
|
0
|
5
|
R A Venniker | ML Roberts |
54.5 aa
|
104
|
83
|
|
| 06 Nov 2022 |
Greyville
|
1600m
|
1st |
1.50
|
62,500
|
4
|
R A Venniker | ML Roberts |
58.5 aa
|
88
|
91
|
|
| 23 Oct 2022 |
Greyville
|
1400m
|
1st |
3.90
|
50,000
|
5
|
R A Venniker | ML Roberts |
60.0 aa
|
0
|
91
|
|
| 14 Aug 2022 |
Scottsville
|
1200m
|
4th |
1.25
|
5,000
|
5
|
R A Venniker | ML Roberts |
58.0 aa
|
0
|
74
|
