The following recommendations were brought forward to the board of directors of the IHRA for approval, from the Stakeholder’s meeting held on Saturday 10th February and have subsequently been approved.
IHRA 2018 Handicap System
PACERS:
- Grade G is for horses that have never won a race.
- Grade G1 is for horses that have one a grade G-race, who start 10Y behind the grade G horses.
- Grade F horses trail grade G by 30Y and a G1 by 20Y
- Grade E trails Grade F by 10Y and so on up to Grade A, and up to A1,A2,A3,A4,A5.
- One Win equates to one grade penalty rise.
- Grade drops will be given to all horses in Grades A to E for every 6 runs, regardless of the number of wins.
- Grade drops will be given to the A5-A horses for every 3 runs, regardless of the number of wins.
- At the age of 10, a horse is entitled to a grade drop, (or 6 runs, where the case may be), carrying the previous year’s losses, this continues each year thereafter until retirement.
- At the age of 12, a horse is entitled to a grade drop after every 4 runs.
TROTTERS:
- Grade F to A is 20Y trail between each grade
- Grade A to A5 is a 10Y trail between each grade
- One win equates to one grade penalty rise
- Grade drops will be given to all horses in Grades A to E for every 6 runs, regardless of the number of wins.
- Grade drops will be given to the A5-A horses for every 3 runs, regardless of the number of wins.
- At the age of 10, a horse is entitled to a grade drop, (or 6 runs, where the case may be), carrying the previous year’s losses, this continues each year thereafter until retirement.
- At the age of 12, a horse is entitled to a grade drop after every 4 runs.
- 3 year old trotters are entitled to two wins in each grade before moving up a grade, starting in Grade G and capped at Grade F.
- Horses racing in Ireland and bought through the Le Trot System, will be grade F with no lifetime win and will be grade E with 1 lifetime win.
** Should any horse win a final with a purse greater than €3000, and not its heat, the horse will get a penalty grade rise of 2 grades.
** C Class allowance will not be permitted in races with purses exceeding €3000.
** A conversion table linking the BHRC handicap grades to the present IHRA grades will be published on the website shortly
** From the start of the 2018 season, a link will be published on the IHRA website, allowing owners and trainers access their horses grade, including the number of runs and will be updated on a weekly basis.
** The reference point for all horses which intend to run in the 2018 season, who competed in the 2017 season will be from their last run.
**At the request of the IHRA, a further discussion and clarification on the following amendments will be made at the next committee meeting:
- Horses may drop to G1 from F with 6 non-winning runs
- 3 three year old horses are entitled to two wins in each grade before moving up a grade (to include all races rather than just aged races)
