Remarkable stayer Kyprios stands second only to Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings following his sixth G1 success last week at Glorious Goodwood.
With leading US dirt performer National Treasure fluffing his lines at Saratoga over the weekend and blowing a shot at the #1 spot, Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior claims his 15th week at the top.
Indeed, several of the world’s leading horses are producing horribly inconsistent form lines this year – think Auguste Rodin, Notable Speech, Fierceness – to leave the rankings with a topsy-turvy feel.
However, any such charge cannot be levelled at Kyprios (#2 from #8, +129pt ), unbeaten in four starts this term since his comeback from injury. Having won the Gold Cup at Ascot in June, the six-year-old son of the mighty Galileo added to his G1 laurels with an authoritative performance in the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, where he outclassed his rivals for a six-length verdict in track record time.
Having landed the same Ascot/Goodwood double in 2022 – when he also landed fhe Prix du Cadran by 20 lengths – Kyprios has fought back from a potentially career-ending joint infection the following season to stamp himself as unquestionably the world’s leading performer at marathon distances.
(Props here also to world #15 Next, who routed a small field in minor dirt stakes company by 22¼ lengths at Saratoga over a mile and three-quarters. Such a shame there is no competition in such events in the US.)
“Kyprios an incredible horse,” commented world-leading trainer Aidan O’Brien. “He’s a very special horse. He has so much class, really he’s going along in second gear all the time – we know he stays well but he has a lot of class.”
“The Gold Cup is a very important race for him every year and we will mind him for that.” added the trainer.
“We thought if he was ok today, we might bring him back to an Irish St Leger again. If we got him through that, we’d have him for next year. We have to be respectful of him and to him, because if you saw where he came from, it’s hard to believe that he is here today.”
Sussex Stakes: Top Ten return for Notable Speech
Back in the top ten following a fluent performance in the Sussex Stakes, Goodwood’s £1m highlight, is 2,000 Guineas winner Notable Speech (#9 from #101, +289pt).
The Godolphin three-year-old plummeted downs the rankings with a below-par effort at Royal Ascot behind Rosallion – absent at Goodwood with a respiratory infection and now set for the Prix du Moulin.
However, Notable Speech regained the G1-winning thread with a comfortable victory at Goodwood, where other notable performances were headed by Breeders’ Cup winner Big Evs (#94 from #296, +197pt), Audience (#44 from #130, +159pt) and Opera Singer (#70 from #173, +159pt).
Muddy track unseats National Treasure
Highlight of last weekend’s US programme was the $1m Whitney at Saratoga, where multiple G1 winner National Treasure was odds-on favorite to follow up his 6¼-length romp at the same venue in the Met Mile.
While he’s also won a Preakness and a Pegasus World Cup, the Bob Baffert-trained four-year-old isn’t entirely consistent, and he could finish only sixth of ten, never able to dominate behind all-the-way winner Arthur’s Ride on a muddy track.
“I would imagine it was the track,” offered jockey Flavien Prat. “He didn't feel very good on it – he was switching leads and he was not as quick today. The winner took the lead and never looked back.” National Treasure (#7 from #2, -51pt) pays the price in rankings terms, with a big drop.
Arthur’s Ride authoritative
Having produced a strong 111 Beyer Speed Figure on his previous outing in allowance company for trainer Bill Mott, Arthur’s Ride made a bold entrance into stakes company with a 2¼-length score over Crupi.
As none of his earlier races were eligible for the TRC Rankings, he enters the list at #54, with the promise of another sizeable jump if he shows up well on his next assignment, which looks set to be the Jockey Club Gold Cup on September 1.
Bob Baffert might have been out of luck with National Treasure but consistent mare Adare Manor (#13 from #30, ≠110pt) continues to fly the trainer’s flag back home in southern California, where she recorded a decisive repeat win in the G1 Clement L Hirsch at Del Mar.
That’s eight graded-stakes wins now for the daughter of Uncle Mo, who landed the G1 Oaklawn Handicap by 5½ lengths earlier this season.
Deauville: Lazzat leaves ’em standing
Coming in from virtually nowhere in France is Lazzat (#31 from #132, +211pt), who won going away from 14 rivals in the G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville, where recent July Cup winner Mill Stream was only fifth.
This relatively unheralded gelding is now unbeaten in six, all of them this year in his three-year-old campaign where having started life in January at Cagnes-sur-Mer. He is the latest testament to the training talents of Jerome Reynier (#73 from #105, +32pt), also responsible for Dubai Turf winner Facteur Cheval and prolific Group winners Marianafoot and Skalleti among others.
“Incredible!” exclaimed Marseille-based Reynier, quoted by the Racing Post. “He didn't need anybody else. I was worried he was doing too much too early to win but he just took lengths out of them.”
This was a first G1 success for Italian jockey Antonio Orani (#119 from #179, +38pt). A long-term plan for the winner is the A$10m ($6.5m/£5.1) Golden Eagle in Sydney on November 1.
• 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.
View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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