The Preview of the Omkar Indian Turf Invitation Cup, Gr.1 elicited a very interesting question -- "Is it fair that an older horse needs to give weight to a younger horse ?". There is no clear cut 'yes' or 'no' answer to the question and it needed to be discussed in greater detail.  Some readers will be aware of the historical background of the weight-for-age scale but not all so a brief delving into the background is necessary before the question itself is addressed.

Like so many popular sports today, horse racing originated in England. The first race course in England was established on Roodee at Chester during the reign of King Henry VIII but racing really came into its own after the Restoration of King Charles II in the middle of 17th century. Early racing consisted mostly of "matches" or races which were run in heats over long distances. Racing evolved as days went by and in 1776, the first Classic, the St. Leger was run at Doncaster. The Oaks and the Derby came next followed by the two Guineas. A new pattern of racing had emerged.

Racing was always linked with betting and to make betting more intriguing and interesting, the concept of handicapping came into being so as to equalise, theoretically, the winning chances of all the runners. Right from the beginning, there were two classes of horses. The handicappers who constituted a majority and a smaller group of elite horses who participated mostly in 'terms' races. The "terms" -- quite simply the conditions of the race - were also an attempt to equalise the chances of the runners with penalties and allowances prescribed.

The weight-for age (WFA) scale came into being around 1860 and it is accepted as the handiwork of that great racing administrator Admiral Rous. A Steward of the Jockey Club and author of "The Laws and Practice of Horse-Racing" Admiral Rous was also the Handicapper who was renowned for his uncanny making of matches with the one between The Flying Dutchman and Voltigeur often cited as the best example of his craft. The WFA seeks to equalise the chances of horses of different age groups running in the same race. It is based on the simple premise that an older horse is more mature and therefore should give weight to his younger rivals. 

The WFA is not uniform. The amount of weight an older horse has to give varies with the distance of the race and the time of the year when the race is run. WFA with no penalties has been the norm for some of the best known Gr.1 races in the world and they include the Prix de l'Arc the Triomphe (France), King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, Eclipse Stakes, Champion Stakes (England), Irish Champion Stakes, Irish St. Leger (Ireland), Japan Cup (Japan), Breeders' Cup series (U.S.A.) and W.S. Cox Plate (Australia), to mention just a few.

It is rather surprising that neither in the various international fora nor in the popular racing Press, the validity of the WFA has been seriously questioned. Discussion in international fora is often very technical and scientific, embracing subjects such as mitochondrial DNA, medication rules, growth hormones and so on but the WFA has never received the same attention or importance.

Some of the points mentioned below have occasionally been raised but have received the short treatment or been swept under the carpet:-

       *   The WFA is ad hoc and arbitrary. It assumes, without any evidence, that all horses mature at the same rate.

       *   A race is between individual horses and not a team match between different generations.

       *   The WFA may have been valid in the days of Admiral Rous when the first internal combustion car had not been invented by Herr Benz and the Wright Brothers had not taken to sky. The Thoroughbred has evolved over the years and today's specimen is as different from The Flying Dutchman as Voltigeur was from Eclipse.

        *  A Thoroughbred is bred and trained to attain his peak physical prowess when the Derby is run for his generation. Should a horse at the zenith of his  physical well-being be entitled to any weight concessions ?

The Indian Turf Invitation Cup is modelled on Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe where the older horses have to give 4 kgs. to the Classic crop [in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe however, the older horses have to give 3.5 kgs. to the Classic crop - 3-year-olds carry 55.5 kg and 4-year-olds and over carry 59kgs]. Of course, the Classic crop is aged 3 in Europe while it is a year older in India. The question posed - Is it fair that an older horse needs to give weight to a younger horse ? -– still remains unanswered. The next article will attempt to do that.

PAST THE POST

Just as the validity of WFA has not been backed by scientific or statistical analysis, there is another long surviving racing tradition of fillies receiving a 1.5 kg. allowance when racing against colts or geldings in terms races. In most - if not all - human sports, the female athletes do not compete against their male counterparts. So there is no chance of Serena Williams taking on Novak Djokovich unless it is an exhibition or charity event. But in racing a Treve competes against an Ectot and gets an allowance of 1.5 kgs.    

10.   Why just 1.5 kgs. ? Why not 2.5 kgs. ? This allowance appears as arbitrary as the WFA. It is traditional and so it continues.