R83,2m up for grabs during the Highveld Feature Race Season

The Highveld Feature Race Season program will be published shortly with total stakes of R83,2 million for a seven-month period of exciting racing, covering the period 1 October 2022 to 30 April 2023.

The Highveld season will be made up as follows:

•      68 Feature races offering total stakes of R27,925,000
•      551 minor races at “in season” levels worth a total of R55,275,000
•      A total of 619 races with total stakes of R83,200,000

“We are happy to announce the Highveld season and associated stakes. We have sought to ensure the Highveld season continues to attract the country’s finest horses for our big feature days, while also providing fair opportunities for our lower-rated horses. We look forward to an exciting Highveld season and the support of all in the industry to continue to revive and grow the sport of horseracing,” said 4Racing CEO, Fundi Sithebe.

The 551 minor races for the period is made up as follows:

•      340 Races for Winners (61,71%)
•      170 Races for Maidens (30,85%)
•      41 Races for 2yos (7,44%)

The percentage of maiden races has been reduced in line with the horse population trends, which means there are more races for winners in the program.

The 340 races for winners is summarised as follows:

•      220 Handicaps (60,45% of which are for horses rated 80 and lower)
•      9 Novice Handicaps
•      28 Pinnacle Stakes
•      23 Middle Stakes
•      30 Classified Stakes (these are races for horses rated 71 and below)
•      1 Conditions Plate
•      4 Progress Plates
•      25 Graduation Plates

The breakdown of the Highveld stakes allocation is as follows:

There are two distinct seasons within the seven-month period. The first, the Highveld Spring Season, which gets underway with the Joburg Spring Challenges at the beginning of October, building into the Charity Mile meeting at the end of October and culminating in the Gauteng Summer Cup day at the end of November.

The second one, the Highveld Autumn Season, kicks off with Gauteng Guineas Day at the beginning of February, ultimately building into Champions Day at the end of April.

During this time the MINIMUM stakes for Pattern races are as follows:

A number of the Grade 3 and Listed races, predominantly those for younger unexposed horses but a couple of key races for older horses too, now include a rating penalty restriction of 6 points to provide protection for these horses. These races are as follows:

•      London News Stakes G3 Open
•      Tony Ruffel Stakes G3 3yos
•      Three Troikas Stakes G3 3yo Fillies
•      Swallow Stakes Listed 3yo Fillies
•      Sea Cottage Stakes G3 3yosMan O’ War Sprint G3 3yos
•       Man O’ War Sprint G3 3yos
•      Jubilee Stakes G3 Open
•      Graham Beck Stakes G3 3yos
•      Starling Stakes G3 3yo Fillies
•      Victory Moon Stakes G3 Open
•      Gardenia Stakes Listed F&M
•      Fillies Mile G3 3yo Fillies

We are confident this will give owners and trainers the confidence to take their chances in these races without fear of excessive rating increases, thereby improving field sizes and competitiveness of the races.

The Eastern Cape will have a stakes pot of R40 million this year, with R7.25m available for the region’s 40 Feature races.