With the Carreras de las Estrellas setting the stage, OSAF moves forward with the evaluation of over 450 thoroughbreds

Representatives from five South American nations, alongside international consultant Phil Smith, are analyzing the performances of the region's top runners to establish the official ratings for the 2025/2026 racing season

Against the high-profile backdrop of the Carreras de las Estrellas festival, scheduled for this Saturday at Hipódromo de San Isidro, the Organización Sudamericana de Fomento del Sangre Pura de Carrera (OSAF) is conducting one of its most critical technical sessions of the calendar year with the assembly of its Handicappers Committee.

The summit, spanning from Wednesday, June 24, through Monday, June 29, brings together official handicappers representing Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Uruguay. They are joined by acclaimed British handicapping specialist Phil Smith, who provides international rating consultation, along with the General Manager of OSAF.

Throughout the four-day working session, the committee is tasked with the systematic evaluation of top-tier thoroughbreds campaigning across South America, analyzing racing performances logged from July 1, 2025, to the present. In total, the panel is reviewing the competitive records of over 450 individual runners boasting official ratings of 105 or higher.

The unified ratings established during this mid-year summit serve as the foundation for calculating the quality control parameters for black-type fixtures across each member nation for the 2025/2026 racing season. Following these determinations, individual national grading committees will spend the month of July analyzing the local data to compile reports for formal submission to OSAF.

The next phase of the international coordination process will take place on Saturday, August 15, when the OSAF Grading Committee meets at Hipódromo Chile in Santiago. That panel will scrutinize the submitted national reports to finalize any proposed adjustments regarding promotions, demotions, or condition modifications for Group-level fixtures across the region.

The final structural recommendations will then be forwarded to the International Grading and Race Planning Advisory Committee (IRPAC), the global governing body slated to grant final regulatory approval during its annual meeting this coming October in Paris.

The presence of the OSAF Handicappers Committee at San Isidro during the marquee Carreras de las Estrellas fixture re-establishes Argentina as a primary administrative hub for South American racing, initiating the formal review period that defines the continent's black-type blueprint for the upcoming season.