Racing Queensland Greyhound Grading Procedures Review
Second Phase Industry Consultation
Friday March 31, 2023
BACKGROUND AND OVERVIEW
Racing Queensland (RQ) determined in early 2022 to undertake a review of the Grading Procedures that apply to the grading of all Queensland greyhound race meetings.
The first phase of the review involved the preparation of a Discussion Paper and Submission Form which was made available to industry stakeholders for feedback between February 4, 2022 and March 11, 2022. A total of 23 participants completed the feedback submission form.
RQ has also undertaken a comparison between the Queensland Grading Procedures and interstate grading procedures in Victoria, New South Wales, and Western Australia.
Following evaluation of the stakeholder feedback/interstate comparison findings and testing of possible change initiatives, RQ has determined to redraft the Queensland Grading Procedures and subject the proposed new procedures to a further round of industry consultation.
Key components of the proposed grading procedures will be an automated order of entry based on the principle of a Weighted Point Score, and automated race field selection based on the principle of an Individual Rating. Both are proposed to enhance grading automation and transparency.
Following the second phase of industry consultation, RQ will progress towards finalisation of the new Grading Procedures and will undertake the Ozchase system development necessary to implement the new Grading Procedures.
MAKING A SUBMISSION
RQ welcomes submissions from stakeholders and will accept feedback until Friday April 28, 2023. Stakeholders can provide feedback on any aspect of the proposed Grading Procedures.
Submissions should be made in writing to gradingreview@racingqueensland.com.au
DOCUMENTATION AND SUPPORTING INFORMATION
The following is provided to assist with feedback submissions:
Section
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Summary Of Changes
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Reason For Change
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Distance Categories
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No material change
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Track Class
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No material change
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Interstate Tracks
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No material change
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Grades
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Grade 7 = Novice. For greyhounds with one win.
Grade 6 = New Grade. For greyhounds with two wins.
Class 1 grades to start at Grade 6, not Grade 7.
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To enable greyhounds to gain more experience in the lower grades against similar opposition.
Data indicating a high proportion of nominations are greyhounds with two wins or less, particularly over short distances.
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Grading Penalties
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No material change
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Grading Concessions
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No material change
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Dropping A Grade
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Now three non-consecutive unplaced runs to drop a grade.
Greyhounds over 42 months now drop a grade after two non-consecutive unplaced runs in top grade.
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Requirements to drop a grade have been relaxed so that greyhounds can remain competitive with faster movement between grades.
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Upgrading Rules
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Upgrading rules will not apply to Maiden, Grade 7, Pathways, and Masters events.
Removal of Class 5 specific upgrading.
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Increased the number of wins required to trigger an upgrade.
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Race Field Procedure
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Race events will be drawn according to a Hierarchy Of Events.
Updated definitions for race events.
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To provide a transparent methodology for prioritising race events.
To provide exact field size numbers for race schedule decision making.
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Guarding
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Will continue to be applied to Maiden, Grade 7, Grade 6, and all heats.
For graded events, guarding will apply where a greyhound has four wins or less, or where trainers/owners have three or more greyhounds engaged in the same division.
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To ensure competitive race fields, the principle of guarding will not override form once a greyhound has won five races or more.
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Reserve Rights
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No material change
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Order Of Entry
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New order of entry for all race events based on a Weighted Points Score to allow automatic processing.
New order of entry for Pathways events.
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To reduce processing times.
To improve Order Of Entry outcomes by increasing the number of starts being assessed.
To develop pathways events for greyhounds of a lower standard.
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Composition Of Fields
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Introduction of an Individual Rating to rank greyhounds and allow automatic processing.
Three methods for drawing all race events as follows:
- Random/Guarded
- Seeded/Random/Guarded
- Banded
New methodology for mixed grade events.
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To remove grader discretion.
To reduce processing times.
To provide a transparent methodology for allocating greyhounds to race events, including mixed grade events.
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Heats and Finals Table
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No material change
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Time Standards
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No material change
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Nomination Policy
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All race events to be added to Ozchase and requiring trainer to select all race events for which they wish to nominate.
Removal of comments section.
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To remove ambiguity in the nomination process.
To ensure greyhounds are only drawn in race events which they are nominated for by the trainer.
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