European Pattern Committee

The European Pattern Committee (EPC) has approved the upgrade of two Group 3 races to Group 2 status for 2026, including the Prix Paul de Moussac at ParisLongchamp (1400m, 3yo, early-June). Won last year by the subsequent Group 1 winner Maranoa Charlie, the race is intended to act as the main stepping stone to the G1 Prix Jean Prat over the same distance approximately one month later. Meanwhile, Germany successfully applied to upgrade the Bavarian Classic at Munich (2000m, 3yo, early-May) to Group 2 status. The Bavarian Classic has a...

Karl Burke, who has sent out more Royal Ascot-winning two-year-olds in the last decade than every other trainer bar Aidan O'Brien, has emerged as a fierce opponent to planned changes to the Windsor Castle Stakes, describing the new race conditions announced by the British Horseracing Authority's Flat Pattern Committee (FPC) as a "ridiculous idea". In a press release issued by the FPC on Tuesday, it was revealed that the distance of the Windsor Castle will be increased to six furlongs from 2026. In addition, the Listed contest will be restricted...

The Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot will be run over six furlongs from 2026, as well as being restricted to two-year-olds whose sire won a race over at least seven furlongs (1400m) at the age of two, or at least a mile (1600m) at the age of three and upwards. The changes were announced on Tuesday by the British Horseracing Authority's Flat Pattern Committee (FPC) and follow the Group 1 upgrades announced in February by the European Pattern Committee (EPC), with the aim of safeguarding the production, retention and...

The European Pattern Committee (EPC) announced on Tuesday that it has approved the upgrade of four Group 2 races to Group 1 status, including the City Of York Stakes. Traditionally run at York's Ebor Festival in August, it will become the second all-aged seven-furlong Group 1 race in Europe, alongside the Prix de la Forèt at ParisLongchamp in October. The remaining Group 1 upgrades were all related to the EPC's continued pan-European focus on the middle-distance and staying horse. In Britain, the British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot was...

By Emma Berry and Brian Sheerin On Tuesday the European Pattern Committee (EPC) announced that 42 races are at risk of being downgraded in 2025, including Britain's G1 Commonwealth Cup. Its status will depend very much on its performance in 2024, which will mark the tenth running of the race introduced to the British calendar in 2015 as a readymade Group 1 in order to "create a more balanced programme and better opportunities for high-class sprinters". The Commonwealth Cup, run at Royal Ascot over six furlongs for three-year-olds only, was...

Twelve fewer black-type races will be run in Europe in 2024 following the approval of the programme by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) which sounded a note of caution regarding "the reported increasing exports of quality horses overseas". France's Prix Saint-Alary will has been downgraded from Group 1 to Group 2 status and is one of five Group races to have been demoted, while Britain's G3 Sovereign S., traditionally run at Salisbury, will not be staged. In Ireland, the Salsabil S. has been upgraded from a Listed race to a...

Italy's major races will see the most significant downgrades among European countries after the European Pattern Committee announced alterations to the 2023 Flat programme Wednesday, as a host of that country's major races are set to be demoted in status. There will be 827 black-type races run in Europe this year, compared to the 852 in 2022, while group races have been cut by 13 to 412 and listed races drop to 415 from 427. One of the most significant changes to the Irish programme comes in the case of...

All Pattern and listed races staged in Europe in 2021 were reviewed by the European Pattern Committee (EPC) at their annual meeting, which was held virtually on Friday, Jan. 21. The EPC sanctioned 851 black-type races (854 in 2021) to be held in Europe in 2022, of which, 425 were group races (427 in 2021) and 426 listed races (427 in 2021), a reduction of three on 2021. Besides upgrading and downgraded races, the EPC also appointed Jason Morris, the Director of Racing at Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) to replace...

In light of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the pattern programme and the campaigns of the best racehorses in 2020, the European Pattern Committee has determined that no pattern or listed races will be upgraded or downgraded in 2021. The 2020 race ratings, additionally, will not be used to compile the three-year average ratings for any pattern or listed races, meaning 2020 will be treated as a gap year in terms of assessing race performances. Races at risk of downgrade will receive a stay in 2021 and will...

The announcement from Jockey Club Racecourses on Tuesday afternoon clarified, up to a point, a view which many within racing already held: that a number of the Classics would not go ahead on their original scheduled dates. There are 427 Group races and 426 listed races scheduled on the Flat in Europe this year. Only a handful has been run so far this year, the most recent being the one Group race and one listed contest on the card at Naas on Monday, Mar. 23. The next day, Ireland followed...

The downgrading of a pair of German Group 2s and a distance changes for two key French 2-year-old races were among the outcomes of the European Pattern Committee's annual meeting at the British Horseracing Authority offices on Jan. 23. Germany was hit hardest in the quality control realm, its Meilen Trophy and Goldene Peitsche downgraded from Group 2 status, and the G1 Deutsches Derby, G1 Preis von Europa, G2 Diana Trial and G2 T. von Zastrow Stutenpreis all put on notice for risk of downgrading in 2021. France was issued...