With the reappearance of one of the greatest horses in Timeform's history, the three-day Dante meeting, and International action featuring the Preakness, the return of last year's Arc heroine, and Group 1 action from Singapore, it's been a busy week for the handicappers at Timeform.
Stop me if you've heard this before, Frankel first, daylight second, Excelebration third. No doubt we're all extremely fortunate that Frankel has been kept in training as a four-year-old, but in truth, another rout of Excelebration and co. told us little we didn't already know about Sir Henry Cecil's colt.
With a master rating of 143, Frankel didn't have to run to any higher than 142 on Saturday, the rest of the field adjudged to be at least 5 lb below form, with Excelebration conceding first run and never threatening to put down a challenge. This is the fourth time Frankel has put up a performance of this magnitude at a mile, backed up by a timefigure of 134 on Saturday, and there is very little for him left to prove under the conditions.
York's Dante meeting provided the perfect build up to the Lockinge and the winners of both the Dante and the Musidora were seen to enhance their respective Derby and Oaks claims.
Bonfire showed that he's the main danger to Camelot in earning a rating of 121p for winning colts' classic trial whilst the runner-up Ektihaam (120) also showed improvement as the pair pulled clear of Fencing.
The Oaks still has a more open look, but The Fugue will have at least as strong claims as any following her easy victory on the Knavesmire. Turned out relatively quickly after an encouraging run in the Guineas, her four-and-a-half length defeat of Twirl earned a figure of 117p, backed up by a timefigure of 115. At the time of writing, The Fugue heads the ratings for the Oaks, ahead of Maybe on 116 and the easy Prix Cleopatre winner Dalkala (114p).
Rounding up the rest of York, Black Caviar was still sleeping easy in her box after the Duke of York, Tiddliwinks and The Cheka running to 119 as they fought out the finish, with Society Rock, who was 6 lb below his best of 124 and tends to save his best for Ascot, in third. On the same card, Pearl Secret continued on his march to pattern company, unbeaten in three now, and improving to 119p after again winning unextended.
Saturday's Newmarket card was rather forced to play second fiddle to Frankel and Newbury, but there were a number of efforts worth noting.
Thought Worthy confirmed himself a smart colt by winning the Fairway Stakes, only needing to run to within 2 lb of his pre-race rating of 112p, but it was Noble Mission who came out as the best at the weights, running to 114p in going down by a neck conceding 5 lb. Both will be suited by a mile and a half and could head to Royal Ascot for the King Edward VII.
Royal Ascot will also be on the agenda for Jersey Stakes candidate Aljamaaheer who showed his reappearance form on soft ground to be all wrong when winning the King Charles II Stakes. Both he and runner-up The Nile were value for extra over the bare result and are now rated 117p and 112p respectively.
Fame And Glory remains favourite to retain his Gold Cup crown following his win in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan. He has sometimes proved vulnerable after a break, and though he only had to run to 121 to hold off Unaccompanied, he remains rated 124 on last year's form.
It was a similar story for last year's Arc winner Danedream who had a straightforward task on ratings and only had to run to 116+ to make a winning return in a Group 2 event at Baden-Baden. She remains rated 132.
Over in the States saw the second leg of the US Triple Crown and two top-class three-year-olds pulled clear of the rest, Bodemeister seen to better effect on this occasion but was again unable to hold off the late challenge of I'll Have Another who triumphed by a neck. It's 34 years since Affirmed was the last horse to win the Triple Crown.
Singapore also played host to Group 1 action with the local-trained but South-African bred Ato running to 120 to win the International Sprint whilst the French-trained seven-year-old Chinchon put up a career-best 123 to win the International Cup over a mile and a quarter.
