Nicholas Godfrey looks at last week’s G1 races from the perspective of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings
Cinderella’s Dream
Falmouth Stakes G1 (Newmarket, July 11)
Dropping Notable Speech back in trip to take advanatge of seeming easy pickings in the July Cup may not have worked out as planned when last year’s Guineas winner was beaten into fifth behind shock winner No Half Measures.
However, otherwise the Godolphin (stays at #1, +47pt) team of trainer Charlie Appleby (#2 from #3, +88pt) and jockey William Buick (stays at #4, +41pt) could barely put a foot wrong at Newmarket’s July meeting last week.
Highlight among no fewer than seven winners was the ultra-consistent four-year-old Cinderella’s Dream (#34 from #74, +122pt), who recorded her first g1 success in Europe with a courageous performance to run down favoured January.
Although the winner seldom earns the plaudits, her career record bears close scrutiny: she has won eight out of 12, with three second places – including a half-length reverse at last year’s Breeders’ Cup, which offers her primary target this time around.
“She is knee-high to a grasshopper but is tough as teak and I am delighted for her,” said Appleby, who had much to smile about elsewhere at his home venue. El Cordobes looks the type for an international campaign after winning the G2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes, while Dubawi colt Saba Desert jumped to the head of the two-year-old division when overturning Ballydoyle hotpot Italy in the G2 Superlative Stakes.
Highly rated Opera Ballo (#101 from #254, +159 ) looked an outstanding prospect in landing another Listed success in the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes. The son of Ghaiyyath’s form is clearly up to Group level already, which is why the TRC algorithm is treating his last two wins as G3 class.
Leffard
Grand Prix de Paris G1 (Longchamp, July 13)
Supplementary entry Leffard (enters at #223) will be given a French prep for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe via the Prix Niel after short-heading Royal Ascot winner Trinity College – with veteran trainer Jean-Claude Rouget (#47 from #60, +40pt) on hand at Longchamp for a popular success.
“When the race started in earnest I was momentarily tapped for toe but he has a lot of quality and he was able to reel him in,” said winning jockey Cristian Demuro, speaking to the Racing Post. “He must be a good horse because he's still a little babyish and I'd say there's plenty more to come.”
Excellent Truth
Dunkin’ Diana Stakes G1 (Saratoga, July 12)
After a thrilling stretch duel, leading turf filly She Feels Pretty (gave 4lb, stays at #22, +2pt) suffered her first defeat for 11 months with an odds-on reverse as Resolute Racing’s Excellent Truth (#135 from #610, +265pt) struck for the first time in G1 company. A game sort, the ex-European five-year-old came in off three consecutive runner-up efforts at the top level.
Excellent Truth is trained by Chad Brown (#3 from #2, +7pt), who was winning the first g1 of the Saratoga summer for a remarkable tenth time. (By the way, this race was moved off the inner turf to the Mellon turf course after heavy rain. Diana, presumably, was well and truly dunked, if she was in attendance.)
No Half Measures
July Cup G1 (Newmarket, July 12)
The truism suggests the European sprint ranks are all over the place and this prestigious six-furlong dash over the July Course did little to alter that perception as 66-1 longshot No Half Measures (#211 from #969, +287pt) kept on inside the final furlong to beat Big Mojo.
The four-year-old, who looks a specialist at six, had previously scored in G3 company in soft ground at Newbury last year. She represents three-time champion jockey Richard Hughes (enters at #331), landing his first G1 win as a trainer. On a red-letter day for the stable, Hughes also scored in G3 company at York with Sayidah Dariyan.
“I had nearly given up thinking it would happen,” admitted Hughes after Neil Callan partnered No Half Measures to a neck success. “I had started telling myself, ‘This is the sort of horse we’ve got, so let’s just train them’. We’ve had a few good horses in the past and you psych yourself up and then they run terrible. It’s soul-destroying.”
… and there’s more
Scandinavia
Bahrain Trophy G3 (Newmarket, July 10)
Son of Triple Crown winner Justify stepped up on previous form with a startling 8½-length win and likely to start favourite for the St Leger if dual Derby-winning stablemate Lambourn doesn’t run.
Far Bridge
Bowling Green G2 (Saratoga, July
Dual G1 winner didn’t need to improve for a commanding three-length victory at odds-on on a yielding turf course. Trained by the late Christophe Clement’s son Miguel, the five-year-old climbs the rankings to #54 (from #61, +12pt).
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
Delacroix redeems himself under ‘masterful ride’ from Ryan Moore
Calandagan silences the doubters to enter world top ten
Royal Ascot rankings update: ‘That was a great performance’ – Field Of Gold enters world top five
Francis Graffard moves into Top 20 as Gezora stakes Arc claims at Chantilly
Sovereignty reigns supreme at Saratoga – and there’s nobody close to world #1 Aidan O’Brien at Epsom
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.