The handicap marks of most Irish hurdlers and chasers will be raised by between 1lb and 12lb in a move designed to put them on par with ratings for British horses.
The initiative will address a discrepancy between ratings of jumpers in the two countries, which led last year to many Irish trainers becoming convinced that their horses were badly treated by the British handicapper and when British horses raced in Ireland.
The primary purpose of the increase in ratings is to help assuage the crisis of a high number of horses being balloted out of races in Ireland, but establishing parity with Britain was also considered important.
Ireland's senior jumps handicapper Noel O'Brien said on Friday: 'Raising the ratings will move a proportion of our horses out of the worst areas for balloting, to ranges where there is virtually no balloting, but I thought this was too good an opportunity to miss.
'I therefore asked the stewards if I could alter the ratings in such a way that would bring the British and Irish lists into line.'
The biggest changes will be for hurdlers. Those rated 140 or above will go up 4lb, those rated 130-139 will go up 5lb, with every 10lb rating band increasing by a further pound.
Chasers rated 130 or above will stay on their present marks, but those on 120-129 will go up a pound, with ever-rising increases down the scale.
The revised ratings will appear in the Irish Racing Calendar of January 16, and will determine entry qualification for races closing from January 17. Horseswill run off their new marks on January 23.
