Why York’s three Group 1s lead the world

Mecca’s Angel winning the 2016 Nunthorpe. The race was the highest-ranked five-furlong event in the world over the past three years. Photo: York Racecourse

Remember last year’s Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes at York, when Mecca’s Angel, who had also won the the race the year before, blitzed a star-studded field, headed by Limato? That was the best sprint in Britain over the last three years - and the highest-ranked five-furlong race in the world.

What about the 2016 running of the Darley Yorkshire Oaks? Darley Irish Oaks winner Seventh Heaven beat Found, who would win the Arc a few weeks later, and subsequent Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Queen’s Trust. Some race, eh? No wonder it was the best turf contest in Britain exclusively for fillies and mares in that same three-year period. And the second best in the world.

The Nunthorpe and the Yorkshire Oaks are two of the three Group 1s at the Welcome to Yorkshire Ebor Festival, which will boast a record prize money of £4.4 million when it takes place next week - from Wednesday August 23, to Saturday August 26. These aren’t just any old Group 1s, they’re among highest rated in the world.

The third one, the highlight not just of the opening day but regularly one of the worldwide highlights each season, is the £1 million Juddmonte International, which has a résumé that outpoints even the other two.

We ran some stats through the TRC Global Rankings algorithm (taking the current rankings three-year window and basing the race standings on an average of Racing Post Ratings for the first four finishers in each renewal) to see how the York races compare with other Group and Graded contests around the world. The results showed they compare well. Very well.

The Ebor Festival is often referred to as the ‘Royal Ascot of the North’, yet as far as the three Group 1s are concerned, it actually surpasses that great meeting in June. As you’ll see in the tables below, each of the York races comes out ahead of any similar contest at the Royal meeting.

Juddmonte International

(Wednesday, August 23)

As the table shows, two of its three editions make the top six of all the races run in Britain during that period. Australia’s sublime defeat of The Grey Gatsby and a collection of superior older horses in 2014 is rated fourth, and Postponed’s mighty performance last year, when he got the better of a quality field led by Highland Reel, is sixth.

Only the 2015 edition, when a masterful Silvestre de Sousa conjured one of the biggest upsets of the decade with an improbable neck defeat of Golden Horn on 50-1 shot Arabian Queen, is outside the top ten.

Britain’s best races: 2014-present

Race

Date

Course

RPR

Winner

Second

Third

King George VI And Queen Elizabeth

July 2017

Ascot

125.84

Enable

Ulysses

Idaho

Qipco Champion Stakes

Oct 2016

Ascot

125.72

Almanzor

Found

Jack Hobbs

Coral-Eclipse

July 2015

Sandown

125.72

Golden Horn

The Grey Gatsby

Western Hymn

JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL

Aug 2014

York

125.08

Australia

The Grey Gatsby

Telescope

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Oct 2016

Ascot

123.8

Minding

Ribchester

Lightning Spear

JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL

Aug 2016

York

123.56

Postponed

Highland Reel

Mutakayyef

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Oct 2014

Ascot

123.08

Charm Spirit

Night Of Thunder

Toormore

Queen Anne Stakes

June 2017

Ascot

122.92

Ribchester

Mutakayyef

Deauville

Qatar Sussex Stakes

July 2016

Goodwood

122.88

The Gurkha

Galileo Gold

Ribchester

Qipco Champion Stakes

Oct 2015

Ascot

122.8

Fascinating Rock

Found

Jack Hobbs

Figures based on the RPR average of the first four finishers

 

Australia’s race comes out as the fifth highest-rated turf race in the world, ahead of two of the three runnings of the Arc in the last three years, as the table below shows.

The world’s best turf races: 2014-present

Race

Date

Course

Country

RPR

Winner

Second

Third

King George VI And Queen Elizabeth

July 2017

Ascot

GB

125.84

Enable

Ulysses

Idaho

Qipco Champion Stakes

Oct 2016

Ascot

GB

125.72

Almanzor

Found

Jack Hobbs

Coral-Eclipse

July 2015

Sandown

GB

125.72

Golden Horn

The Grey Gatsby

Western Hymn

Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Oct 2014

Longchamp

France

125.44

Treve

Flintshire

Taghrooda

JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL

Aug 2014

York

GB

125.08

Australia

The Grey Gatsby

Telescope

Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Oct 2015

Longchamp

France

125.00

Golden Horn

Flintshire

New Bay

Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Oct 2016

Chantilly

France

124.76

Found

Highland Reel

Order Of St George

QIPCO Irish Champion Stakes

Sept 2016

Leopardstown

Ireland

124.44

Almanzor

Found

Minding

Darley Classic

Nov 2014

Flemington

Aus

124.20

Terravista

Chautauqua

Lankan Rupee

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Oct 2016

Ascot

GB

123.80

Minding

Ribchester

Lightning Spear

Figures based on the RPR average of the first four finishers

 

Go back six years, however, and the Juddmonte International comes out as world number one, thanks to one particular horse: Frankel.

The TRC Global Rankings are based on a rolling three-year window, updated weekly, but data is available back to 2011. So we ran the stats back six years, and guess which race came out on top.

Not surprisingly, seven of the top ten races were all won by Frankel (of the other three, two went to Black Caviar and one to Treve). But the best of the lot, the strongest race in Frankel’s career, was the 2012 Juddmonte International, in which he ran to an RPR of 143 in finishing seven lengths clear of subsequent Qipco British Champion Stakes winner Farhh and six-time G1 winner St Nicholas Abbey, who were split by a nose after a gut-wrenching battle for second.

That renewal is well clear as the best turf race in the world over the six years, as the table here shows.

The world’s best turf races: 2011-present

Race

Date

Course

Country

RPR

Winner

Second

JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL

Aug 2012

York

GB

137.33

Frankel

Farhh

Queen Elizabeth II Stakes

Oct 2011

Ascot

GB

135.67

Frankel

Excelebration

JLT Lockinge Stakes

May 2012

Newbury

GB

135.00

Frankel

Excelebration

Qipco Champion Stakes

Oct 2012

Ascot

GB

134.67

Frankel

Cirrus Des Aigles

Queen Anne Stakes

June 2012

Ascot

GB

134.33

Frankel

Excelebration

Darley T J Smith Stakes

April 2011

Randwick

Aug

133.33

Black Caviar

Hay List

Qipco Sussex Stakes

July 2011

Goodwood

GB

133.00

Frankel

Canford Cliffs

Qipco Sussex Stakes

Aug 2012

Goodwood

GB

131.67

Frankel

Farhh

Bundaberg Distilling Co BTC Cup

May 2011

Doomben

Aus

131.33

Black Caviar

Hay List

Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

Oct 2013

Longchamp

France

131.33

Treve

Orfevre

Figures based on the RPR average of the first two finishers

Darley Yorkshire Oaks

(Thursday, August 24)

Two runnings of the £350,000 Group 1 make the top five of worldwide turf races for fillies and mares over the past three years.

Seventh Heaven’s victory last year is rated just a fraction behind the Prix Vermeille of the year before, but there’s no disgrace there - that featured one of the finest performances in the career of dual Arc heroine Treve!

The 2014 Yorkshire Oaks, when the Aidan O’Brien-trained Tapestry ran the race of her life to upset the King George and Epsom Oaks winner Taghrooda, comes in at five.

Those two renewals are first and third among filly and mare races in Britain alone during that period.

The world’s best fillies and mares turf races: 2014-present

Race

Date

Course

Country

RPR

Winner

Second

Third

Qatar Prix Vermeille

Sept 2015

Longchamp

France

117.64

Treve

Candarliya

Sea Calisi

DARLEY YORKSHIRE OAKS

Aug 2016

York

GB

117.40

Seventh Heaven

Found

Queen's Trust

Kingdom of Bahrain Sun Chariot

Oct 2014

Newmarket

GB

117.32

Integral

Miss France

Fintry

Prix Corrida

May 2015

Saint-Cloud

France

116.96

Treve

We Are

Mayhem

DARLEY YORKSHIRE OAKS

Aug 2014

York

GB

116.92

Tapestry

Taghrooda

Tasaday

Coronation Stakes

June 2015

Ascot

GB

116.84

Ervedya

Found

Lucida

Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes

Oct 2015

Ascot

GB

116.64

Simple Verse

Journey

Beautiful Romance

Qipco 1000 Guineas

May 2016

Newmarket

GB

116.64

Minding

Ballydoyle

Alice Springs

Qipco Falmouth Stakes

July 2015

Newmarket (july)

GB

116.44

Amazing Maria

Euro Charline

Avenir Certain

Qipco British Champions Fillies & Mares Stakes

Oct 2016

Ascot

GB

116.36

Journey

Speedy Boarding

Queen's Trust

Figures based on the RPR average of the first four finishers

Coolmore Nunthorpe Stakes

(Friday, August 25)

The only two sprints anywhere in the world and on any surface that come out better than the 2016 Nunthorpe were both over six furlongs at Flemington in Australia, both featuring Aussie speedballs Chautauqua and Terravista.

And, with U.S. sensation Lady Aurelia and Goodwood winner Battaash both likely runners, this year’s Nunthorpe, now with a prize fund of £350,000, could be a strong contender for its own place in the top ten.

The world’s best sprints: 2014-present

Race

Date

Course

Country

RPR

Winner

Second

Third

Darley Classic

Nov 2014

Flemington

Aus

124.20

Terravista

Chautauqua

Lankan Rupee

Black Caviar Lightning

Feb 2016

Flemington

Aus

122.40

Chautauqua

Terravista

Japonisme

COOLMORE NUNTHORPE 

Aug 2016

York

GB

122.28

Mecca's Angel

Limato

Take Cover

King's Stand Stakes

June 2017

Ascot

GB

121.92

Lady Aurelia

Profitable

Marsha

Qipco British Champions Sprint

Oct 2015

Ascot

GB

121.84

Muhaarar

Twilight Son

Danzeno

TwinSpires Breeders' Cup Sprint

Oct 2015

Keeneland

USA

121.80

Runhappy

Private Zone

Favorite Tale

Commonwealth Cup

June 2017

Ascot

GB

121.68

Caravaggio

Harry Angel

Blue Point

Lexus Newmarket Handicap

Mar 2015

Flemington

Aus

120.60

Brazen Beau

Chautauqua

Terravista

Diamond Jubilee Stakes

June 2015

Ascot

GB

120.32

Undrafted

Brazen Beau

Astaire

Longines Hong Kong Sprint

Dec 2016

Sha Tin

HK

120.04

Aerovelocity

Lucky Bubbles

Peniaphobia

Figures based on the RPR average of the first four finishers

 

Next week’s festival isn’t just about the Group 1s, though. York Racecourse had ten races ranked in the top 250 in the world on all surfaces on 2016 renewals, and seven of them are being run next week.

As well as the three Group 1s, they are the £170,000 G2 Betway Great Voltigeur Stakes (the highest-rated classic trial in Britain all last season) on Wednesday, the £200,000 G2 Weatherby’s Hamilton Lonsdale Cup and the £175,000 G3 Sky Bet City of York Stakes (seven furlongs), both on Friday, and the £90,000 G3 Betfred Mobile Strensall Stakes (nine furlongs), part of the supporting card on Saturday, when the feature race is the £285,000 Betfred Ebor Handicap over a mile and threequarters.

The meeting also stages the two richest 2-year-old Group 2s in Britain - the £225,000 Sky Bet Lowther Stakes for fillies on Thursday and the colts’ equivalent, the £225,000 Al Basti Equiworld Gimcrack Stakes, on Saturday.

As if that wasn’t enough, the progamme also includes Britain’s richest maiden (the British Stallion Studs EBF Convivial Maiden Stakes on Friday, its richest nursery handicap (the six-furlong Betway Stakes on Wednesday) and its richest apprentice race (the five-furlong Betfred Apprentice Stakes, which is the final contest of the meeting on Saturday). Each of these three races has a prize fund of £70,000.

The Lonsdale, like the Group 1s, is part of the British Champions Series.

Each of the Group 1s is a Breeders' Cup 'Win and You're In' qualifier - the Juddmonte International guaranteeing the winner a place in the line-up for the Longines Breeders' Cup Turf, the Yorkshire Oaks for the Filly & Mare Turf, and the Nunthorpe for the Turf Sprint.

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