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The southern thoroughbred racing industry has taken a hit with the downgrading of this season's White Robe Lodge Handicap at Wingatui from group 3 to listed status.

The Otago Racing Club has taken immediate action to appeal the decision after being notified of the change.

``We are working at a submission at the moment to keep it at its status as a group 3,'' chief executive Hannah Catchpole said yesterday.

``We have had confirmation that it is getting downgraded to a listed race, so we are just in the process of hopefully getting that reviewed with the pattern committee.''

``We are asking them to review their decision and we will be submitting supporting evidence as to why it should be kept as a group 3 race.''

The White Robe Lodge Handicap has been run as a group 3 race for a stake of $70,000 in recent seasons but is recorded as a $50,000 listed event in this season's racing programme.

The decision to downgrade the race is a blow to all levels of the thoroughbred industry.

Owners, trainers and jockeys are facing a pay cut if they can win the 1600m race as the change means race funding drops $20,000 while southern racing fans and punters have lost their local premier spectacle.

Breeders who race their mares in the South have been robbed of the only opportunity to credit their mares with valuable group race status in races south of Canterbury.

The New Zealand Pattern Committee manages the status of New Zealand's group and listed races.

Each year the committee releases a report into the previous season's feature races including ratings evaluations for each event and recommendations that upgrade or downgrade listed and group races.

The committee's objective is to hold the standard of New Zealand's standards for group and listed races to international standards, which is considered crucial to maintaining the national industry's reputation and value.

Clubs are first advised if their races are falling below rating standards with a warning - after two warnings the race may be downgraded.

The White Robe Lodge Handicap must hold a rating over 102 rating points to maintain its group 3 status.

In the past four seasons, the race has rated below that mark three times, but only by a maximum margin of 1.5 points.

Over the same period, races such as the Auckland Racing Club's group 1 races, the Easter Stakes and the Auckland Cup, have both failed to meet that criterion by much bigger point margins, but they have both retained their status.

How the running of last season's White Robe Lodge Handicap and the Easter Stakes and Auckland Cup have affected their ratings will be revealed in the pattern committee's full season report, which is due out soon, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing said.