Ratings Update: Irish Derby Festival reaction

The Curragh staged the pick of the action last week, most notably the Irish Derby which was won by Lambourn (remains rated 122) who emulated his sire Australia and grandsire Galileo by completing the Derby and Irish Derby double.

Lambourn had been a dominant three and three-quarter-length winner at Epsom, where he never faced a serious threat after making all the running under a positive ride. He had to work much harder to follow up at the Curragh, however, and he failed to match the form he had shown at Epsom.

Lambourn was again ridden positively, but was taken on for the lead by Sir Dinadan and was unable to dominate in a strongly-run contest. Lambourn was firmly ridden turning for home and edged his way past Sir Dinadan and into the lead entering the final couple of furlongs, but he soon faced a challenge on his outside from progressive stablemate Serious Contender (115p from 106p) who had finished runner-up in handicap company in the King George V Stakes at Royal Ascot on his previous outing.

Lambourn may not have been as impressive as at Epsom, but he again showed that stamina was his forte and he stayed on well to prevail by three-quarters of a length, leaving the impression that he would relish the longer trip of the St Leger should connections go down that route.

The performance of runner-up Serious Contender paid a handsome compliment to Merchant (112p) who was a ready winner at Royal Ascot and looks like an exciting prospect well worth a crack at Group level.

Lambourn's victory made it a Group 1 double on the weekend for Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore who had also landed the Pretty Polly Stakes with Whirl (remains 119p). Whirl was narrowly beaten by stablemate Minnie Hauk following a thrilling tussle in the Oaks, but she went one better at the Curragh, showing a really willing attitude to fend off the strong-travelling favourite Kalpana.

Whirl ran to a similar level as she had at Epsom and will remain a force in top-level fillies' events at a mile and a quarter or a mile and a half. She's the joint highest-rated three-year-old filly along with Minnie Hauk.

O'Brien and Moore also combined to good effect in the Group 2 Airlie Stud Stakes with Beautify (106p from 79p), who stepped up markedly on her debut third to inflict a first defeat on Lady Iman.

Lady Iman, a Group 3 winner on her previous start, loomed up looking the likely winner, but Beautify fended her off and impressed with how powerfully she hit the line, looking sure to relish the step up to seven furlongs when the time comes. Her rating of 106p marks her out as the highest-rated juvenile filly in the division, passing the benchmark set by stablemate True Love (102p) in the Queen Mary Stakes.

In France, Calandagan (128 from 127) finally made the Group 1 breakthrough in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud on Sunday. He had finished runner-up on his first four attempts in Group 1s, most recently chasing home Jan Brueghel in the Coronation Cup at Epsom, but he won with plenty of authority at Saint-Cloud, pulling three and a half lengths clear of last season's Arc runner-up Aventure.

As a gelding, Calandagan is ineligible for the Arc, though he remains one of the highest-rated horses around. The only horses in Europe rated higher are Field of Gold (132p), Ombudsman (130) and Jan Brueghel (129).