Ratings Update: Stars out in force over weekend

It may have been St Leger day at Doncaster on Saturday and the Arc Trials at Chantilly 24 hours later, but it was Ireland’s Champions Weekend that lived up to its billing by attracting a host of Europe’s leading performers. Several of those lined up for a mouth-watering Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday evening which, among other Group 1 scorers, brought together this season’s winners of the Derby, Oaks, Eclipse, Prince of Wales and King George. None of those, however, proved a match for the Prix du Jockey Club winner Almanzor who established himself as Europe’s best three-year-old (now rated 130) with a defeat of the Ballydoyle fillies Found (126) and Minding (124).

Almanzor has an Arc entry, but his trainer Jean-Claude Rouget has always had the Champion Stakes in mind for him instead (clear favourite for that now), with the unbeaten filly La Cressonniere due to represent the same connections at Chantilly. Runner-up in the race for the second year running (and for the ninth time at the top level), Found recorded a career-best and deserves another crack at the Arc after having little go right for her last year, while Minding had no excuses in her first race against colts. Fourth-placed New Bay (128) fared best of those ridden close to the strong pace and in typical Andre Fabre fashion looks like being brought to his peak for the Arc (third last year), while dual Derby winner Harzand (128), sent off favourite, was among those who failed to perform anywhere near his best. He at least had the excuse of being struck into, while the return to a mile and a half will surely suit him a lot better, though as Arc preparations go, this clearly wasn’t ideal.

It wasn’t all about the Irish Champion though, as there were some very smart performances on the rest of the card. Irish 2000 Guineas winner Awtaad (124) returned to his best in the Boomerang Stakes when beating last year’s winner Custom Cut (116) in a sprint finish. Ground softer than good would boost Awtaad’s chances in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes but he’s likely to come up against one or two three-year-olds who’ve already beaten him if going to Ascot. Out of luck with Harzand, Dermot Weld had a happier result in the Enterprise Stakes in which his lightly-raced four-year-old filly Zhukova (122p) overturned Derby runner-up US Army Ranger (125p). The winner looks one for the Fillies’ And Mares’ Stakes at Ascot, while the runner-up got back on track to a large extent in a race where the emphasis on speed was much more in Zhukova’s favour, and which certainly counted against US Army Ranger’s stable-companion Bondi Beach (125) in third.

It was a weekend of mixed fortunes for Aidan O’Brien’s stable stars but one highlight was Alice Springs’ victory in the Matron Stakes from the hitherto unbeaten Persuasive (117) and Rouget’s Qemah (119) who had come out on top in three previous meetings with the Falmouth winner. This was the fourteenth start of Alice Springs’ career but she was better than ever here (121), showing a turn of foot that hadn’t been evident before, and putting herself in line for a possible attempt at the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Among all the higher-profile pattern races, it would be easy to overlook a cracking effort in the mile and three-quarter handicap from top weight Quick Jack (117) who returned a career-best rating on the Flat to beat stable-companion (and fellow Cesarewitch entry) Pyromaniac by a neck.

Quick Jack is equally well known as a hurdler, as is his rival in that sphere Wicklow Brave, though Willie Mullins' gelding raised his Flat profile (and rating – now 121) no end when causing the upset of the weekend in Sunday’s highlight, the Irish St Leger. A textbook front-running ride from Frankie Dettori played a large part in the eclipse of last year’s wide-margin winner Order of St George (129) whose standing as the best stayer around remains intact despite this blip, while the winner is now bound for the Melbourne Cup.

Sunday’s Curragh card couldn’t match Leopardstown’s for star quality, but it saw the weekend’s best performance from a two-year-old when Churchill (117p) made it four wins on the bounce in the National Stakes. Chief rival Mehmas (115) failed to stay in second, which meant Churchill didn’t need to improve that much, but he looks the one to beat in next month’s Dewhurst if kept on the go. Aidan O’Brien suffered reverses in the weekend’s other main two-year-old contests, with odds-on Douglas Macarthur (103) only third to the Ken Condon-trained gelding Landfall (109p) in the Group 3 mile contest at Leopardstown, while all four Ballydoyle fillies were beaten in a muddling Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh won by 25/1 shot Intricately (107p) – trained by O’Brien’s son Joseph.

Staying with the two-year-olds, over at Doncaster, Rivet (111p) was a narrow if willing winner of a less strongly-contested edition than usual of the Champagne Stakes, while the St Leger itself also has to go down as a substandard renewal, for all that it tested stamina and produced a thrilling finish. The main drama occurred when odds-on favourite Idaho (123) stumbled and unseated over three furlongs out to contribute to Ballydoyle’s up-and-down weekend, leaving Harbour Law (119) to get the better of Ventura Storm and Housesofparliament (both 118).

With several leading Arc contenders in action in Ireland instead, the Arc trials card (at Chantilly this year) were less informative than usual, with only the Prix Niel winner Makahiki featuring among those prominent in the betting for the big race in three weeks’ time. The Japanese Derby winner Makahiki only beat one-time Derby favourite Midterm (up to 118 here) by a neck, but his rating (127p) gets an upgrade thanks to some impressive closing sectionals. Left Hand (117), runner-up to La Cressonniere in the Prix de Diane, didn’t need to improve to go one better in a substandard Prix Vermeille, and neither did Silverwave (125) who followed up his Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud win in a four-runner Prix Foy which was the fastest-run of the three Arc trials.

If anything, the winners of the three other pattern races on the card look at least as interesting with the rest of the autumn in mind. Vazirabad (125) confirmed himself the top French stayer by winning the Prix Gladiateur, while Vadamos (126) put himself in line for a possible rematch with his Jacques le Marois conqueror Ribchester in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes by notching a first Group 1 success in the Prix du Moulin. Again, neither of those established performers needed to improve, but it was a different story in the five-furlong Prix du Petit-Couvert won by Ron Harris’s three-year-old gelding Just Glamorous. He completed a hat-trick in handicaps in July (last of them off a BHA mark of just 83) but was the weekend’s biggest improver (105 to 124) in making all from fellow British-trained sprinters Marsha (120) and Goldream (121) on his pattern-race debut. A repetition of that performance from Just Glamorous will mean Goldream has his work cut out to retain his Prix de l’Abbaye title.