General / Tony Calvin / 31 March 2009 / 4 Comments

Europe's mile events, such as Queen Anne at Royal Ascot, next on the agenda for Dubai Duty Free winner.

Timeform Global Rankings, updated today, see Gladiatorus rated as the leading horse in the world after his rout at Nad Al Sheba on Saturday evening. Trained by Mubarek bin Shafya to complete a hat-trick, Gladiatorus recorded a career-high Timeform rating of 132 when winning the Dubai Duty Free.

Gladiatorus is ranked narrowly ahead of Youmzain, last year's Arc runner-up who was a slightly unlucky fourth on Saturday in the Dubai Sheema Classic, and Well Armed, Saturday's runaway Dubai World Cup winner, who are both rated 131.

Judged on strength in depth, the Duty Free looked the strongest race on Saturday's card, but it proved a wholly one-sided contest once Gladiatorus and his rider Ahmed Ajtebi had seized the initiative early on. Gladiatorus had been hugely impressive over shorter trips against smaller/less competitive fields in his two previous runs at the Carnival this year, and while on paper this looked much his stiffest task to date, he destroyed his field from the front.

He'll have Europe's top mile events on his agenda from now on back with Godolphin (with them in 2008 but never ran) and, though he's unlikely to be allowed quite so much rope in future, Timeform rate him as a top-class miler nonetheless.

Well Armed put up a seemingly stunning performance in the World Cup, bettering his third to Curlin in the race 12 months earlier by smashing that horse's record winning margin to become the third US-trained winner in a row. Beforehand it looked to be the worst renewal in the race's 14-year history and, as wide-margin wins often deceive, for now, Timeform have taken a cautious view of the form. His rating of 131 is three pounds below what Curlin achieved in the race in 2008.

Timeform spokesman Kieran Packman commented: "We certainly saw two visually stunning performances on Saturday and our view is that Gladiatorus's victory was slightly more meritorious. It remains to be seen if he can repeat that level of form in Europe, but he'll certainly be a fascinating contender for races such as the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot.

"Well Armed is very hard to assess with confidence, but, given that the market leaders largely disappointed, it's a race to take with a pinch of salt at this stage as far as we're concerned'.

Timeform Global Rankings - Top Ten

1 Gladiatorus 132
2= Well Armed 131
2= Youmzain 131
4= Conduit 130
4= Soldier of Fortune 130
6= Goldikova 129
6= Paco Boy 129
6= Septimus 129
6= Weekend Hussler 129
10= It's Gino 128
10= Yeats 128
10= Zenyatta 128