As at Saturday, May 10, almost half-way through the year, were the Mouttet Mile to be run next week, and the allotted six ‘foreign’ entries filled, only three local-bred runners - MONEY MARKET, ZULU WARRIOR and DON KWESI - would have made the cut based on the new points system to earn a starting post in the US$300,000 event.

The top six spots are occupied by United States-bred runners, led by defending champion RIDEALLDAY, who won the first win-and-you’re-in race, April’s Ian Levy Cup, which, truth be told, is a tad too early for the winner to be assigned as automatic-entry for an event being run in December.

However, that should correct itself next season with the appropriate amendment. Ideally, no Mouttet Mile win-and-you’re-in should be run before summer, June onwards, ruling out the possibility of any such qualifier, absent from the races with a mid-season injury or setback, yet hogging a gate at the expense of sounder horses, who would have been next in line on points.