Prizemoney has never been better in a country where everyone is free to race without a permit.
But the dramas over the pattern and the business classification of racing are playing out in political ways both in Australia and around the world.
The threat to demote Australia to the Blue Book II is a hollow one, given the country’s value to big breeders who shuttle stallions.
The complexity of racing, particularly in an open and free market like Australia, sees jurisdictions compete against each other.
We have a thriving betting economy, which has a tote, bookmakers and exchanges. A system does not exist with the same strength legally anywhere else in the world.
It has funded the boom in racing’s prizemoney for the past decade or more, which flows on to the sales rings.
It is the way racing jurisdictions fund themselves.
They are interested in the short term and, like LIV Golf, do not require status to operate.
However, the breeding industry is probably bigger. It requires Australia to be part of the international community via the pattern.
Status is important, not just for now but for future generations. It makes racing sustainable and will attract further investment from racing powers in Australia.
Legacy comes from winning races that have status, not just big prizemoney.
The pattern in Australia has been broken for most of this century, and the Principal Racing Authorities have played a major part in it.
The breeders have become increasingly vocal about Racing NSW in the past couple of years, but they were silent when the problem started.
There has been a moratorium on downgrading black-type races pushed by smaller states for most of the century.
There have been upgrades to races in that time, particularly in Victoria and NSW.
The pattern needs a revamp, but while the PRAs and Racing Australia control it, it will remain a political football where vetoes are used by Victoria and NSW.
It could be argued the Australian pattern does not reflect our racing, rather the traditional European model. It should reflect the strengths of our racing around sprinter-milers.
A start would be downgrading the Metropolitan and Sydney Cup, which have not been up to Group 1 standard for many years.
The Blue Book model might be better for Australia, giving breeders a voice and allowing those who are invested and investing in the industry to help make the rules.
Meanwhile, the patience from overseas has run out with Australia. They are taking a close look at Australia but failing to apply the same scrutiny to their own racing.
The international ratings now appear to be being used to punish Australia.
In the end-of-year ratings since 2020, Australia has had a good representation at 120 and above.
It was four 120-plus raters in 2020, eight in 2021 and 2022, nine in 2023 and six last year.
In 2025, the only performance worthy of a 120 rating was Antino in the Doomben Cup, and perhaps Ka Ying Rising in The Everest rose to that elite level.
But it appears Australia is being marked more harshly at the international level as the pattern crisis boils over.
Rating experts have Australian racing heading for a golden era after a spring where talent emerged like Autumn Glow, Tentyris, Jimmysstar and Ceolwulf, a horse that has gone backwards on the rating for winning two of the biggest Group 1s in the country in the spring.
It is just four months into the season, and Australian horses have matched Timeform ratings over the last five completed seasons.
Meetings continue to fix the pattern, and there are secret proposals from interested parties that have merit.
The final piece to making Australian racing complete is a strong pattern for our horses as internationally influential as they should be.
