Handicappers' Corner: Treve joins the greats with stunning Arc win

In the past few seasons horseracing fans have been lucky enough to witness a selection of astounding visual performances that were backed up by top-class achievement. Frankel was responsible for a number of them, notably his win in the 2000 Guineas, while Harbinger's 11-length success in the King George also springs to mind. Treve's victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe on Sunday sits comfortably in that bracket.

Treve's wide margin success was achieved despite a number of things seeming against her, notably the fact she sweated up beforehand, and failed to settle in the early stages, but given a fantastic ride by Thierry Jarnet, she was able to overcome that.

Treve has been allotted a rating of 134 for winning the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, in a result that looks relatively solid amongst the principals. Orfevre filled the runner-up spot again, but nothing like as unfortunate as twelve months ago and he has run up to his pre-race figure of 130 while the third Intello improves slightly from 126 to 129, with Kizuna running to his pre-race figure of 126 in fourth.

The muddling pace causes some issues further back, and some horses are likely to prove flattered by their proximity, notably Sahawar who appears to have run to a figure of 118 having been rated 106 beforehand, but this is hardly a new phenomenon where the Arc is concerned, as the proximity of the likes of La Boum to Sea The Stars and It's Gino to Zarkava testify.

It is for reasons like this that Timeform do not rely on the final margins between horses at the finish as the sole arbiter to calculating ratings to reflect merit, but where possible, makes use of sectional timing data (read Simon Rowlands' Sectional Debrief HERE), and other handicapping techniques, such as positional handicapping.   

This method, handicapping according to finishing position, rather than purely on margins beaten has been in use for a long time at Timeform and its purpose is to reflect the "correct" order in the horses' master ratings if they were to meet again under similar conditions.

The Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe has witnessed a number of stellar performances down the years, the likes of Ribot (1956), Sea-Bird (1965), Mill Reef (1971) and Dancing Brave (1986) all posting ratings of 140 or higher for their victories, and though some way off that level, a rating of 134 for Treve is the highest figure awarded to a filly or mare for winning the race in over sixty years, superior to the likes of Allez France (132, 1974), Three Troikas (133, 1979), and more recently Zarkava (130, 2008) and Danedream (132, 2011) and behind only the 1949 winner Coronation (135).

Although her career only stretches to five races so far, Treve has already done enough to be considered one of the all-time greats among her own sex, and it is to be hoped she can enhance her reputation further as a four-year-old if kept in training, which seems likely at this stage.

Racegoers were rather spoilt at Longchamp on Sunday, as just less than an hour and a half after Treve's success, Moonlight Cloud showed a blistering turn of foot to win the Prix de la Foret. In a race run at a different tempo to the Arc, the pace was much stronger, Moonlight Cloud was still a most impressive winner sweeping from last to first to beat Gordon Lord Byron by 3 lengths.

In terms of form Moonlight Cloud barely had to improve, with her master rating increased slightly to 129, but it has had the '+' symbol added to it and she certainly gave the impression there was even more to come if required.

Rounding up the rest of the Group 1 action at Longchamp, Maarek gained a first success at the top level at the age of six, running to 120, returning to the form he showed when successful in the Champions Sprint at Ascot last year.

Maarek was arguably slightly fortunate on the day, picking up the leaders as they wilted late on, while Catcall would probably have won if his rider had been able to delay his challenge for longer, but Maarek is a consistent performer when he gets a strong pace to run at and cut in the ground, and he won't be one to underestimate back at Ascot in a couple of weeks.

The Prix Marcel Boussac went to Indonesienne, who had chased home subsequent Oh So Sharp winner Miss France on her previous start, and though improving markedly to record a figure of 112, she may not prove the best filly in time. That accolade can go to runner-up Lesstalk In Paris who made most at a strong pace before being worn down late on. She earns a rating of 110p.

There is little doubting that the best horse won the colts juvenile Group 1, the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere, Karakontie earning a rating of 115p for his victory while similar comments apply in the Prix du Cadran, Altano running to a career-high mark of 122. The Prix de l'Opera was by no means a strong renewal, and Dalkala only had to reproduce her pre-race rating of 115 to land a narrow victory.

A performance that could have more short term relevance was that of Cirrus Des Aigles who won the Prix Dollar for the third time. Having suffered an injury following his second to Frankel in last season's Champion Stakes, he hasn't looked quite the force of old, but his performance on Saturday was his best yet of the year, and his rating is back up to 128+. 

Finally, rather in the shade of Longchamp, Ascot held its penultimate Flat fixture of the year on Saturday, the Cornwallis the highlight, in which Hot Streak put up a tremendous performance, both when measured against his rivals and the clock. 

Hot Streak beat Outer Space by 5 lengths in a time almost half a second quicker than the listed class older horses put up in the first race, earning a form rating of 120p, and an even higher timefigure of 125. A reproduction of that would make him the one to beat in the Middle Park should he turn out quickly.    

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