Irish and UK grading of races - similar or differences?

[best mate]

Could someone please explain this difference for me. I've been following racing long enough and I should know but I don't. In the UK, we have Group 1, Group 2, Group 3, Listed and then Class 2 races. Some of the Class 2 races are big handicap races, mostly although not always on a Saturday and during the bigger meetings. Also, some Class 2 races are conditions events. There's one today for example, the 3.50 at Windsor. In Ireland, while the same can be said for all the grades down to Listed, it then gets a bit muddy. We seem to go from Listed just to handicaps or have I missed something?

[Trotter]

Re: Irish and UK grading of races - similar or differences? The grades are the same for group and listed races which are organised at the European pattern level Under that each country has it's own domestic gradings Ireland doesn't have a grading system, the races are just listed by what they are - maidens, handicaps etc. I notice though that they do designate their top handicaps as 'premier handicaps' If I'm looking at an Irish race I just use the prize money as a guide to roughly what level previous races run in were...........