Will the Asian Pattern Committee pull the Australians into Line?

[Chief Stipe]

Asian Pattern Committee to meet on Australia’s black-type uncertainty

Asian Pattern Committee delegates are set to meet this week to discuss Australia’s black-type program and its place within international conventions. https://bitofayarn.com

By Tim Rowe 

 

Racing Industry 

 

November 27, 2025

 

 

The Warra is one of a number of upgraded NSW races which hasn’t be internationally recognised on pedigrees. (Photo by Jeremy Ng/Getty Images)

Australia’s long-running inability to find a uniform solution to its black-type calendar is likely to be the subject of a specially convened Asian Pattern Committee meeting on Friday.https://bitofayarn.com

The Straight understands that the APC is set to come together two weeks earlier than planned to discuss Racing Australia’s inaction in having an approved system in place to determine the Pattern races run across the country’s states and territories each season.

An APC meeting was scheduled for December 12, two days before the Hong Kong International meeting at Sha Tin. It’s unclear whether that meeting will also proceed. 

Separately, it is also unknown if Racing Australia has provided correspondence to the APC in recent months regarding the issue, which continues to frustrate sections of the racing and breeding industry. 

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It is believed that the APC may have given Racing Australia a mid-November deadline to respond to the issue. It is not known if this response has been received.

Racing Australia’s scheduled September meeting, in which the Pattern was a central agenda item, did not go ahead when it was unable to achieve a quorum because Racing NSW was not represented.https://bitofayarn.com

Racing NSW and Racing Victoria hold power of veto over the national body and, in effect, for change to occur both principal racing authorities (PRAs) need to agree on a path forward for the Pattern, which has been in abeyance for several years.

Racing Australia’s APC delegate, Racing SA chair Rob Rorrison, declined to comment when asked by The Straight whether it had put forward a proposal about the Pattern or indeed whether a meeting was to be held this week.

Asian Racing Federation secretary general Andrew Harding also declined to comment when contacted. Previous attempts to contact APC chair, Japan Racing Association’s head of race planning Takahiro Uno, have been unsuccessful.

One of the options which could be open to international authorities such as the APC when addressing issues of compliance with pattern guidelines is a recommendation of a demotion to Part 2 of the International Cataloguing Standards Book, known as the Blue Book.     

Last year, a proposal to introduce ratings-based Black Type Guidelines as a way of overhauling Australia’s Pattern calendar was set to be adopted, only for some states to back out due to participant backlash. Racing NSW pushed on and upgraded or placed stakes status on numerous races.https://bitofayarn.com

However, that black-type is not recognised internationally nor does it feature in pedigrees and bloodstock sale catalogues in Australasia or overseas. 

When it appeared as though Australia was making Pattern progress about 14 months ago, international authorities did agree to grant Group 1 status to Racing NSW’s The Everest and Racing Victoria’s All-Star Mile. 

Last year’s Everest winner Bella Nipotina and this year’s Hong Kong fly-in Ka Ying Rising both earned Group 1 status on their pedigree pages as a result of their victories in the $20 million race.

Tom Kitten’s All-Star Mile victory at Flemington in March was also recognised domestically and internationally as his second win at the highest level.

The Group 1 badge awarded to both races was seen as a stepping stone toward an overall reshaping of Australia’s black-type protocols, but it also sparked fears that smaller states could be the biggest losers if a hardline, ratings-based approach to upgrading and downgrading stakes races were implemented.

It proved to be a major obstacle for the respective PRA delegates on the Racing Australia board, who so far have been unable to reach an agreement, continuing the years-long impasse involving the future direction of the Pattern.

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