Trainer Ralph Beckett labelled Bluestocking as an “extraordinary beast” after the Juddmonte filly ran out a decisive winner of the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp on Sunday [Oct 6] to enter the world Top 5.
As might be expected, Europe’s richest race produced a shake-up in Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global rankings, where the four-year-old climbs to #4 (from #10, +127pt) after her third G1 win of the season by an emphatic length and a quarter from French-trained Aventure.
The pair had also dominated the finish of the Prix Vermeille three weeks previously, after which Bluestocking was supplemented to the Qatar-sponsored Arc – at a cost of €125,000.
It was to prove money well spent as she landed a seventh success in the €5m showpiece for her owners. Always well positioned by jockey Rossa Ryan (#72 from #88, +35pt), Bluestocking dug deep in testing conditions to land a sizeable on-the-day gamble that saw her go off only a 5-1 chance.
“She is an extraordinary beast,” Beckett told ITV Racing. “The draw helped. Rossa got her in the right place – everything went to plan and this is our best-ever day.”
Beckett (#38 from #40, +17pt) had saddled Westover to finish runner-up to Ace Impact in the 2023 Arc. “I grew up watching Rainbow Quest and Dancing Brave and so on, so to train a winner in these colours is a huge, huge thrill,” added the trainer. “It’s a privilege to train for Juddmonte. To train an Arc winner for them as well is extraordinary.”
Bluestocking’s future is up in the air, but she will not be running at the Breeders’ Cup, a tight circuit and fast ground at Del Mar being unlikely to play to her strengths.
At the time of writing, though, a five-year-old campaign had not been ruled out. “I would say it would be a hard decision to make to retire her when she’s on such an upward curve,” Juddmonte racing manager Barry Mahon told the Racing Post.
Aidan O’Brien (stays at #1, +59pt) may have been eclipsed in the main event but otherwise the world-leading trainer was in prime form, landing a four-timer on Saturday’s card at ParisLongchamp followed by a return to winning ways for two-year-old Camille Pissarro in G1 company on Sunday.
With his audacious tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Classic only four weeks hence, City Of Troy enjoys his seventh week at world #1. However, the three-year-old’s status has come under challenge from O’Brien-trained stablemate Kyprios (stays at #2, +23pt), who became his trainer’s winningmost G1 horse with his eighth top-level success in the Prix du Cadran. (Five others – Rock Of Gibraltar, Yeats, Minding, Highland Reel and Magical – won seven.)
The story of Kyprios and his comeback from life-threatening illness has been one of the stories of the European season. Completely dominant in the European staying ranks, he duly regained his Cadran crown to stay unbeaten in 20204 with his sixth straight win, scoring by a couple of lengths from admirable Trueshan.
“He could win an Arc,” said O’Brien, speaking to the Racing Post. “There’s no doubt about that but we have to be very respectful to him and let him do what he enjoys doing. Life is too short, so we should just respect him and celebrate him.”
No proper staying performer features among the 25 individual horses to have claimed the #1 spot since we started compiling racehorse rankings in 2014 – and Kyprios may not be done for the season yet.
“The dream is that if everything is well with him he might go back to Ascot in two weeks and then have the winter off,” said O'Brien. “Then he’ll have his two preps for the Gold Cup next year. That’s what we’ll dream about.”
Biggest mover on the charts in Paris this weekend was three-year-old filly Ramatuelle (#24 from #294, +340pt), impressive winner of the Prix de la Foret. She will head to the Breeders’ Cup Mile a fresh horse, having had only four starts this year.
Leading the domestic defence at Del Mar against the usual phalanx of European shippers in the BC Mile will be Carl Spackler (#20 from #44, +86pt), who secured a ‘Win and You’re In’ berth with a front-running effort in the Coolmore Turf Mile, at $1.25m the richest race ever run at Keeneland outside the Breeders’ Cup.
The Chad Brown-trained four-year-old held off a late bid from More Than Looks to record his seventh win from ten starts by a length.
On Sunday’s card at Keeneland, Juddmonte’s champion older filly Idiomatic (#9 from #24, +90pt) cruised home by 6½ lengths to defend her title with the minimum of fuss in the G1 Spinster.
“Her figures say she’s just as good this year as she was last year,” commented trainer Brad Cox. “She’s training every bit as good this year as last year.
“This year she’s had a little bit of a target on her back. She’s been pressed in some races, where maybe last year she kind of had things her own way. She doesn’t always have to be on the lead. Overall it’s been a great year. She’s two heads from being undefeated.”
She has now won five G1s; a clash with star three-year-old Thorpedo Anna in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff promises something to savour.
Former British-trained filly Via Sistina (#7 from #41, +102pt) was the headline performer on a busy weekend of G1 action in Australia as she edged out Chris Waller-trained stablemate Buckaroo in the Turnbull Stakes at Flemington. Both principals remain in the mix for the Caulfield Cup and Cox Plate.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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• 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.