Ratings Update: O'Brien shows strength in depth in juvenile division

Aidan O'Brien is now responsible for four of Timeform's five highest-rated juveniles following an important weekend in the two-year-old division.

Andrew Balding's Dewhurst winner Gewan still heads Timeform's pecking order with a rating of 118, but he's only 1 lb ahead of Futurity Trophy winner Hawk Mountain (117p from 108p, replay below) and Criterium International winner Puerto Rico (117 from 114).

Pierre Bonnard, who like Puerto Rico won in France on Sunday, has edged his way into the top ten on ratings after earning a figure of 112p (from 106p) for his comfortable victory in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud. As well as completing a clean sweep of the European juvenile Group 1s on offer at the weekend, Pierre Bonnard's victory gave O'Brien his 25th top-level success of 2025. The trainer is bidding to break his record of 28 top-level wins that he set in 2017.

Hawk Mountain led home a 1-2-3 for O'Brien in the Futurity Trophy, beating Action (116p from 106p) by half a length with Benvenuto Cellini (remains 109p), the shortest-priced of the trio, two and three-quarter lengths back in third. Hawk Mountain has shown marked run-by-run progress on Timeform's figures and posted a performance in keeping with what you might expect from a Futurity Trophy winner. The best performances in the race at Doncaster in the last decade were posted by O'Brien's subsequent Classic winners Saxon Warrior (120 in 2017) and Auguste Rodin (119 in 2022).

Runner-up Action produced a performance of similar merit to last season's runner-up Delacroix. Action is a close relation to Derby and Irish Derby winner Lambourn, but heads into the winter with a much higher rating than his sibling did last season. Lambourn was rated only 95 as a two-year-old.

Puerto Rico was an emphatic winner of the Criterium International, though his rating of 117 comes from a reassessment of his performance in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc day. Pierre Bonnard, turned out a couple of weeks after winning the Zetland Stakes at Newmarket, enhanced his good reputation in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud and you have to go back to Robin of Navan in 2015 to find the last time the winner put up a better effort on Timeform's figures.

Adding further strength in depth to O'Brien's two-year-old team is Dewhurst runner-up Gstaad (116), who will stake his claim for top two-year-old honours in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar on Friday. Precise is another with a Breeders' Cup engagement and is likely to start a short-price favourite for the Fillies Turf. Her decisive three-and-a-quarter-length victory in the Fillies' Mile has been rated as the best performance by a juvenile filly this season.

Timeform's highest-rated two-year-olds in Europe:

118 Gewan (Andrew Balding)
117p Hawk Mountain (Aidan O'Brien)
117 Puerto Rico (Aidan O'Brien)
116p Action (Aidan O'Brien)
116 Gstaad (Aidan O'Brien)
114 Zavateri (Eve Johnson Houghton)
113p Precise (Aidan O'Brien)
112p Pierre Bonnard (Aidan O'Brien)
112 Distant Storm (Charlie Appleby)
112 Wise Approach (Charlie Appleby)