There is a route to competitive fields

Building on last week’s position that the Mouttet Miles points standings of which an abbreviated list is published in the Track and Pools, clearly shows the ability quotient of the top four classes of horses in training, it stands to reason that this list should inform the number of races to be scheduled and distances at which they are to be run in order to have a 2027 racing calendar that is viable for both promoter and horsemen.

Whereas the expanded Mouttet Mile points-allocation list shows how many horses are available to provide competitive fields at the respective distances in the top four classes, a system that allots weight by ‘conditions’, not performance, and in which horses are allowed to drop class by way of not having won a race within a particular time, is as equally backward as six-horse fields in which only two runners have any realistic chance of winning.

After taking out the 14, or so, grade-one runners from the Mouttet Mile points-standings list, there might be 60 horses left from which to carve groups two (open allowance), three (overnight allowance) and four (non-winners of four races).