Desert Crown and Vadeni electrified the 2022 European Flat season last week with impressive victories at Epsom and Chantilly. James Willoughby assesses them on a rankings basis
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The Cazoo-sponsored Derby at Epsom was taken apart by Desert Crown. He was the highest-ranked horse going into the 1m4f contest and emerges as high as #15 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary Global Rankings after winning comfortably under Richard Kingscote.
Sir Michael Stoute’s sixth Derby winner travelled well, quickened to take command at the two-furlong pole and was never seriously challenged.
TRC Computer Race Ratings pegged his performance at 123, using the same scale as the IFHA’s World’s Best Racehorse Rankings; this ranks Desert Crown fifth of the 12 Derby winners since the TRC era began in 2011.
However, Desert Crown can rate higher. He has an enthusiastic style of racing and the ability to step back to 1m2f, should Stoute so desire.
It is a shame third-placed Westover was blocked repeatedly. The long-striding son of Frankel finished strongly when in the clear, and he could have forced the winner to pull out more instead of idling. The G3 Sandown Classic Trial winner moves up to #264 (from #348) and looks sure to rate more highly.
The pair were split by longshot Hoo Ya Mal (#825 from #1977) with the first three clear. This colt was unexposed over middle distances.
Sunday’s Prix du Jockey Club, known colloquially as the French Derby, was taken apart by Vadeni in even more impressive style. The Aga Khan’s son of Churchill benefited somewhat from a pace meltdown, but he showed the kind of acceleration not commonly seen.
After hitting top stride inside the final furlong, he did not require any more encouragement from jockey Christophe Soumillon.
TRC Computer Race Ratings actually awarded Vadeni a higher performance figure than Desert Crown. This is because the French-trained colt won by twice as far and defeated two G1 winners in the placed horses El Bodegon and Modern Games.
Vadeni’s performance rates as the third-best in TRC history in the Qatar-sponsored Jockey Club. The runner-up is up to #428, putting behind him a well-beaten effort behind Desert Crown in the Dante Stakes at York.
The third may have been used up early to overcome a wide draw; having been the highest-ranked horse before the race, he drops to #32 (from #28).
Yet despite his performance being rated superior to Desert Crown, Vadeni is still ranked lower at #22 (from #354) because he has lost half of his four starts and is more unexposed than his unbeaten counterpart.
Certainly, a meeting between the two colts is eagerly anticipated. In a past era, this would routinely happen in the Irish Derby at the Curragh, tho
ugh it has become somewhat the fashion to avoid such clashes nowadays and tread carefully towards the big races in the second half of the campaign.
It would be remiss not to mention the Oaks at Epsom. Tuesday and Emily Upjohn fought out a great finish, the former finding a ton under pressure while the latter coming over as the better filly after missing the break and coming wide into the straight. Both achieved a TRC Computer Race Rating of 120.
TRC Global Rankings still considers the finishing order important: Tuesday rises to #86 (from #1022) while Emily Upjohn is at #206 (from #380). Both will rank a lot higher, though it remains to be seen whether they are a match for the best colts.
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View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires