Group races are the highest standard of Thoroughbred horseraces in Australia. The Australian Pattern Committee recommends to the Australian Racing Board (ARB) which races shall be designated as Group races. The list of races approved by the ARB are accepted by the International Cataloguing Standards Committee (ICSC) for publication by The Jockey Club (US) in The Blue Book, thus providing international recognition for Australia's best races. Group races are also said to have the status of "Black Type" races which is of great importance to owners, breeders and race clubs.
There are four grades of Group races in Australia:
- Group 1 - 64 races - minimum prizemoney A$350,000
- Group 2 - 83 races - minimum prizemoney A$175,000
- Group 3 - 112 races - minimum prizemoney A$115,000
- Listed Races - 280 races - minimum prizemoney A$80,000
Australia has a total of approximately 540 to 550 Group races from a season total of almost 21,000 races. These races were collectively known as Principal Races until about 1979. For a list of Group races see List of Australian Group races.
Famous quotes containing the words group and/or races:
“Remember that the peer group is important to young adolescents, and there’s nothing wrong with that. Parents are often just as important, however. Don’t give up on the idea that you can make a difference.”
—The Lions Clubs International and the Quest Nation. The Surprising Years, I, ch.5 (1985)
“Listen, my friend, there are two races of beings. The masses teeming and happy—common clay, if you like—eating, breeding, working, counting their pennies; people who just live; ordinary people; people you can’t imagine dead. And then there are the others—the noble ones, the heroes. The ones you can quite well imagine lying shot, pale and tragic; one minute triumphant with a guard of honor, and the next being marched away between two gendarmes.”
—Jean Anouilh (1910–1987)