Ratings Update: Horn completes memorable season and two-year-olds impress

According to the sources I can find, it took less than 48 hours after Denman won the 2007 Hennessy for the first claims to be made of a golden age for staying chasers. The jumps crowd were on to it quickly. Commentators on Flat racing have been less so and, as a result, we are now arguably seven years into an unprecedented spell of quality from Europe’s middle-distance horses and yet I’ve seen no clamour- barely a stirring, in fact- to term this as any sort of ‘golden age’.

It’s a feeling that struck in the aftermath of Golden Horn’s win in the Arc. Here is a three-year-old that has now won four of the six races that fast-tracked Sea The Stars to the very highest echelons in 2009 (he’d have won a fifth, too, but for the debacle at York), and yet the plaudits have been closer to polite than adulatory.

Admittedly, Golden Horn didn’t have to improve in winning the Arc- he was already the best horse besides Treve- and he remains on a Timeform Rating of 133, half a stone behind Sea The Stars. Had he come along, say, 10 years ago, before the thrust of Zarkava, the languid brilliance of Sea The Stars, the shooting star Harbinger or the invincible Frankel, he’d have been hailed as a great and we at Timeform might have been derided for rating him ‘only’ 133. His three-year-old record stands as more decorated than that of the likes of Galileo or Hurricane Run, albeit with form a mite below their level (both 134 as three-year-olds).

History is likely to have more to say about Treve than Golden Horn, even though the star mare failed in her bid to become the first three-time Arc winner. She has been retired, surely for good this time, with a rating of 129, that being the bare achievement of her stunning Vermeille win in September. Her peak rating of 134, achieved when winning her first Arc two years ago, places her prominently in the discussion of the great racemares and makes her the highest-rated female Arc winner since Allez France in the '70s.

The three French-trained horses that made up the top five also warrant a mention in passing. Flintshire has been little if not reliable in his high-class form, running up to his 128-rated best yesterday to finish second in consecutive Arcs. Incredibly, he’s only the third horse to manage that feat in the last decade, following three-time runner-up Youmzain and Orfevre. New Bay (128) and Erupt (125), both two years younger than Flintshire, are likely to be the returning French hopes next year, the latter in particular unexposed at the top level.

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If they stay in training, New Bay and Erupt will no doubt have to deal with Ballydoyle next year, but might they also come up against Ballydoyle? That confusion between stable and filly is sure to annoy copy writers and editors next year, as the filly is going to be around for plenty of big prizes judging by her win in the Prix Marcel Boussac. Rated 113p and more superior the further they went on Sunday, Ballydoyle is a justified 6/1 favourite for next year’s 1000 Guineas. Opinion seems to be split on whether 10/1 for the Oaks is even more appealing. Her style suggests Ballydoyle will comfortably stay middle distances, though her pedigree doesn’t necessarily back that up- her sister, Misty For Me, won the Marcel Boussac yet failed to stay at Epsom.

Classic aspirations are a bit further off for the principals in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, which was run in a slower time than the Marcel Boussac. Admittedly, a slower pace made much of the difference, though Ultra (114p) and Cymric (114) have a fair bit to find on 2000 Guineas contenders Air Force Blue (122p) and Emotionless (123p). Ultra, a Manduro colt related to plenty of middle-distance sorts, could at least develop into a Derby hope, that a more natural fit for Lagardere winners than it was now that the race is run over essentially a mile.

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The four other open-age Group 1s are legitimately termed the undercard on Arc day, though each has something to say about their respective divisions. The Foret was fought out between a couple of truly Group 1-level three-year-olds and, though it’s easy to be distracted by Limato’s cursed luck, it must be remembered that Make Believe has shot clear of a very smart field and was being gathered in only gradually by the runner-up come the line. Though most would have Limato in the region of 4/7 for the rematch, ratings of 127 and 126 for the winner and runner-up respectively should tell you that we think it would be close. Both are likely to be Group 1 challengers next year, with Poulains winner Make Believe definitely having a mile as an option and Limato likely to stay that far.

For the five-furlong sprinters (Prix de L’Abbaye), stayers (Prix du Cadran) and middle-distance females (Prix de L’Opera), what we have to report is ultimately more of the same: all three divisions are quite congested at the top. Goldream’s second Group 1 of the year in the Abbaye promotes him to 123, above the likes of Muthmir and Sole Power (both 122), though he remains in the shadow of Nunthorpe winner Mecca’s Angel (129).

Both the Cadran and the Opera had all-the-way winners, though in quite different circumstances. While Mille Et Mille (119) nicked the Cadran, Covert Love (120) had to prise the Opera from Jazzi Top (120) after that one had loomed up strongly two furlongs out. Last year’s winner We Are (119) also shaped well, left far too much to do before rattling home. Let’s hope Covert Love comes out of the race well enough to contest the Fillies & Mares Stakes on Champions Day, which could end up the surprise package of this year’s meeting with the likes of Arc bad-luck stories Found (121) and Dolniya (123), as well as Golden Horn’s sole conqueror Arabian Queen (120) and St Leger winner Simple Verse (119) all still engaged to run.

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It feels remiss not to mention the British action over the weekend, but given the quality and/or interest of the races it would feel indulgent to linger on it. The weekend’s Group 1, the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket, went with form, though a steady early pace meant neither Esoterique (124) nor Integral (121) had to run to their best. Third-placed Irish Rookie (116) did at least belatedly justify her being so highly-tried this year.

Over at Ascot there were two Group 3s, though none of the established Group horses turned up in the Cumberland Lodge, allowing Star Storm (116) to make the step from five-race maiden to Group 3 winner in just a month. To continue to paint him that negatively would be wrong-headed, though, as the impression left on Saturday is wholly positive, concerns about the form notwithstanding. The Bengough Stakes also took place at Ascot, though that the only ratings development was the adding of a ‘squiggle’ to reluctant runner-up Naadirr (116§) says plenty.