Some 2008 worldwide stats

I got this info from the NHRA Blue Book:

Part 1 Countries by foals produced
34068 United States
17818 Australia
12419 Ireland
8070 Argentina
7369 Japan
5920 Great Britain
5381 France
4150 New Zealand
2984 Brazil
2468 Canada
2314 South Africa
2252 Italy
1705 Chile
1245 Germany
520 Peru

Part 1 countries by number of runners
66738 United States
29972 Australia
24087 Japan
11814 Great Britain
10338 Argentina
9106 France
7464 Canada
6725 South Africa
5600 Brazil
5576 New Zealand
5016 Italy
4056 Chile
3530 Ireland
2772 Germany
1321 Peru
620 United Arab Emirates

Part 1 countries by number of graded races
468 United States
226 Australia
155 Argentina
138 Great Britain
116 South Africa
107 France
103 Brazil
78 New Zealand
63 Chile
59 Japan
59 Ireland
48 Germany
37 Canada
34 Peru
19 Italy
17 United Arab Emirates

so what these stats prove is that SAF has less runners that vie for a bigger spectrum of graded races...leading to weaker horses winning graded races naturally, or any horse having more chance of being a graded winner in SAF than in say, Great Britain. That does dumb it down a bit..statistically, however i am ignorant as to how a race is awarded grade status...anyone care to elaborate and why would SAF have so many?

What about average purses compared with average purchase price,sure SA would come quite high up the list..?

Hibs, unfortunately the section with purse comparison doesn't include South Africa, so can't post that for you.

Part 1 countries by % races with graded status
8.9% United Arab Emirates
5.8% Ireland
3.2% Germany
3.0% South Africa
2.7% New Zealand
2.7% Argentina
2.6% France
2.3% Great Britain
2.3% Brazil
1.8% Peru
1.3% Chile
1.3% Australia
0.9% United States
0.7% Canada
0.6% Italy
0.3% Japan

Part 1 countries by horses per graded race
408 Japan
264 Italy
202 Canada
143 United States
133 Australia
86 Great Britain
85 France
71 New Zealand
67 Argentina
64 Chile
60 Ireland
58 South Africa
58 Germany
54 Brazil
39 Peru
36 United Arab Emirates