Handicappers on the attack against Main Defender

The official handicappers have whacked three-year-old Main Defender with the maximum merit rating raise allowed following his smashing victory in the 1400m Grade 2 Betway Spring Challenge at Turffontein at the weekend.

The son of Pathfork goes from an MR of 113 to 121. And he would have got more penalty if the race conditions did not preclude the National Horseracing Authority (NHA) numbers men from going above eight points.

Indeed, after Main Defender’s 6.50-length trouncing of a classy field, one knowledgeable pundit speculated that computations could have pushed him as high as 131 – thus making him the second highest rated horse in the country after Charles Dickens.

The commanding manner of the win clearly overshadowed the fact that the gelding carried a mere 50.5kg and had a 9.5kg advantage over the topweight. The fact that the youngster was racing against his elders for the first time – early in his sophomore year – must have been another factor in the NHA’s thinking.

Classic races

Turffontein trainer Tony Peter won’t be overly concerned by the high rating at this stage, with his charge likely to go the route of classic races over the next few months, with level weights the order of the day.

Main Defender has now won four of his five starts and will probably be aimed at the Dingaans on Summer Cup day on 25 November, before possibly heading along the Triple Crown path if his stamina is considered up to it.

Raiding to Cape Town for that city’s summer season might not be a diplomatic move with tension in the air after Cape Racing supremo Greg Bortz’s recent insinuations about training practices on the Highveld.

That’s not going to deter Randjesfontein trainer Sean Tarry, though. After Mrs Geriatrix’s sixth win on the trot in the BSA Sales Cup on Saturday, he declared that the popular filly would be heading down south “sooner rather than later” with a race in early November earmarked as a prep for the Cape Fillies Guineas.

Ratings changes

About the Spring Challenge calculations, the NHA said: “The handicappers were of the unanimous view that second-placed Thunderstruck made for the most suitable line horse when assessing this race, which leaves him unchanged on a mark of 118.  In assessing the race this way, Main Defender runs to a higher mark but the specific race conditions do not allow for a rating increase of more than eight pounds.

“Placed runners may only be increased by a maximum of four pounds and, accordingly, third-placed Ready To Charge was adjusted to a rating of 109 from 105 despite running to a higher mark,” the NHA added.

“The following horses were given ratings drops: William Robertson was dropped from 121 to 119; Bingwa was lowered marginally from 120 to 119; Cabinet Shuffle and MK’S Pride were dropped two pounds each, from 106 to 104 and 120 to 118 respectively. The only other horse to receive a drop was Unzen, who was reduced from 106 to 101.”