ABOUT THE MRA

Malayan Racing Association (MRA) is an association comprising of four clubs, namely

All races in these four clubs are conducted under the MRA rules of racing. Singapore races are conducted on Friday evenings, Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Malaysian races are conducted on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.

 

Type of races
About 90% of the races staged at the MRA circuit are handicap races. The remaining 10% consists of races for unraced horses, set weight and weight-for-age.

 

Classes and Ratings
The horse population in the MRA circuit is divided into 6 categories namely Class 1 to Class 5 and Maidens. The Panel Handicappers classifies new horses either into Class 1 to 4, based on their performances in their country of origin. Or as Maidens if they have not won any prize money (with the exception of horses which have started in a Group or listed race) or are unraced. All newly registered Malaysia-bred horses will start in Class 5. Horses in Class 1 to 5 are then prescribed a rating. Maidens are given set weights in accordance to their sex, age and country of origin.

Below show the ratings of horses in different classes:

Class 1 - 80 points and above
Class 2 - 71-89 points
Class 3 - 62-74 points
Class 4 - 49-61 points
Class 5 - 48 points and below

Maiden - A horse that has never won at any meeting on any course.

 

The following are variations of the type of races conducted at the Singapore Turf Club :

Benchmark handicaps (BM)
The indicated benchmark is the handicap rating that will be allocated 59 kg.
E.g. In a benchmark 52 Handicap the horse(s) rated 52 carry 59 kg. All other horses that are entered will be allocated a weight against the benchmark, namely 0.5kg for each rating point. A horse rated 56 (4 points more equals 2 kg more) will carry 61 kg. A horse rated 42 (10 points less equals 5 kg less) will carry 54 kg. . Note that the minimum weight in any field is 50kg. Therefore, if a runner's rating is 32, he will have to carry the minimum weight of 50kg which will be a handicap disadvantage. Apprentice weight claim is allowed.

Condition weights (CW)
These races have a Basic Weight based on the Weight for Age Scale. Thereafter penalties of weight are added to the basic weight determined by the value of grade of races won. Penalties vary from race to race but in general terms the better class races won will incur the greater penalties. E.g. A Group 1 winner gets a bigger weight penalty than say a Class 1 winner. There are also allowances of weight for horses that have underperformed in recent starts.

Plate races
These include NOVICE, GRADUATION and PROGRESS races. The weights in these races are also tied into the Weight for Age Scale but with weight differentials of 3 kg for each extra win, irrespective of value of the win.

E.g. In a Novice a maiden horse carries 55 kg, a one time winner 58 kg.
In a Graduation a maiden carries 52 kg, a one time winner carries 55 kg and a two time winner carries 58 kg.
In a Progress a One time winner carries 52, two time winner 55 etc.

 

Race Programme
The Panel of Handicappers begins framing the handicaps 11 days before the race, on the date of closure of entries. The number of races on each day is related to the total number of entries received. The total entries received for a particular distance will determine the number of divisions to be run. So, next time, remember to check out the type of race you are investing in.

Singapore Turf Club
Entries for Singapore races will close as follows:
Friday races - 10.00 am on Monday of the same week
Saturday/Sunday races - 10.00 am on Monday of the same week.

Handicaps are released on the same day after entry closing while acceptances and declarations close at 8:30 a.m. on Wednesday for Friday races, Thursday for Saturday races and on Friday for Sunday races.