The European Pattern Committee has approved upgrades for six Pattern races and four new Listed races in 2016, including the granting of Group 2 status to the Curragh Cup Stakes for three-year-olds and upwards over 14 furlongs and the Minstrel Stakes run over seven furlongs, both of which are held at the Curragh.

The Flame of Tara Stakes (2yo fillies, 8 furlongs) also run at the Curragh, received an upgrade to Group 3, whilst Britain secured upgrades into the Pattern for the City of York Stakes (3yo+, 7 furlongs) and the Aston Park Stakes (4yo+, 12 furlongs), and France promoted the Prix Bertrand De Tarragon (3yo+ fillies, 1800m) to Group 3.

DOWNGRADES

Five Pattern races and nine Listed races were downgraded by the Committee following their 2015 renewals. These included the downgrading of two Group 1 races in Italy, the Gran Premio Di Milano run over 2400m and the Presidente Della Repubblica, which will be run over 1800m this year having been reduced in distance from 2000m.

Italy’s Group 2 Carlo Vittadini (3yo+, 1600m) was also downgraded to Group 3, along with the Group 3 Omenoni (3yo+, 1000m) which will now be run as a Listed contest.

Overall, the net position saw two Pattern races added to the European programme in 2016 and seven fewer Listed races.

QUALITY CONTROL

Races that consistently underperform are identified as at risk of being downgraded, after which the host racecourse is put on notice that if the race fails to achieve the required performance rating in 2016, it could be subject to downgrade the following year.

As a consequence of this monitoring, 30 races comprising 14 Pattern races (four Group 1s, three Group 2s and seven Group 3s) and 16 Listed races have been identified as being at risk of downgrading in 2017. Included within these figures are two Listed races held in Spain that will each receive a warning letter from the EPC in 2016.

The Prix du Cadran is one of four Group 1 races at risk of being downgraded in 2017 - the other three are Italian races.

ITALIAN RACING

A positive report was provided on the situation in Italy concerning the distribution of prize money to both domestic and overseas connections. In the main the membership agreed that there had been much improvement and noted that the Italian Ministry for Agriculture was working towards ensuring prize money payments were being paid to the connections of blacktypee runners within the limit of 90 days after the race set by the Committee. Moreover, it was noted that all outstanding prize money payments owing to domestic owners from 2012 to 2014 had now been paid in full.

The EPC would continue to keep the situation in Italy under constant review, and was closely monitoring the performance ratings of Italian Group and Listed races.

REDEVELOPMENT OF LONGCHAMP RACECOURSE

The Committee sanctioned the transfer of all Group and Listed races away from Longchamp Racecourse in 2016, on account of the venue’s redevelopment. It was anticipated that Longchamp would reopen in September 2017.

THREE-YEAR-OLD SPRINT DIVISION & AUTUMN TWO-YEAR-OLD PROGRAMME

In 2015 the EPC announced details of a number of changes to the European sprint programme designed to address the lack of opportunities for high-class three-year-old sprinters whilst also improving the overall standard of Group sprint races in Europe. Reflecting on the changes made last year, the Committee was delighted with the outcome in year one, yet agreed to keep these races under review for at least the next three years.

Perhaps the most remarkable point about the Commonwealth Cup (quite apart from the international representation) was that every runner had already earned Black Type by the time of the race. This included 13 winners of Black Type races (two Group 1, four Group 2, four Group 3 and three Listed) and the other 5 runners had all been placed in Black Type events. Also very pleasing was that the winner of every upgraded trial before the Group 1 contest also took part in the race.

The significant changes made to the dates and distances of some key international two-year-old races last year were also reviewed. Whilst enhancements to the autumn two-year-old programme remain a work in progress, the races had performed strongly in 2015 and would be given time to bed-in.

STAYING RACE PROGRAMME

The programme for the staying horse features some extremely historic and important races, headlined by the Ascot Gold Cup, yet in recent years there has been a worrying trend towards decline in the pool of staying horses that the EPC would not want to see continue.

Whilst changing trends in breeding naturally do not happen quickly, the EPC is looking to build a stronger foundation for staying horses in the future. Work is currently being carried out in Britain to enhance the programme for stayers just below Black Type level, with other EPC countries likely to follow suit.

A sub-committee of the EPC comprising Ruth Quinn (BHA), Henri Pouret (France Galop) and Jason Morris (Horse Racing Ireland) will meet in the spring of this year to consider possible enhancements to the programme at Pattern and Listed level (akin to the work recently carried out for sprinters) that would ensure the gene pool for stayers was at least maintained and the recent trend towards decline is reversed. Where possible the existing programme will be reviewed, and added to, in order to create a meaningful incentive for owners and breeders to produce and retain staying horses.

Announcing these changes, Brian Kavanagh, Chairman of the European Pattern Committee, said: "The quality of Europe’s blacktype programme remains strong and it was pleasing to note that six of the 10 highest rated races in the world as announced by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities on Tuesday are staged in Europe. This year will see 413 Group and 433 Listed races run in Europe, a decrease of five blacktype races overall. The Committee will continue to implement the highest standards of quality control.

"It was also encouraging to hear more positive reports from Italy, although their races continued to underperform. The success of the new sprint programme has encouraged the Committee to adopt a Pan-European approach to the staying division and we have established a sub-committee to deal with this specific issue.”