THERE were several lesser group races supporting the main event at Doncaster’s St Leger Meeting, but none of the winners got near to Capri’s effort in time terms. Best of them was Desert Skyline, who ran a 115 timefigure in the Doncaster Cup, storming through late to collar Thomas Hobson and Sheikhzayedroad (both of whom ran to 113).

Desert Skyline had been third to Stradivarius in a similarly good time at Goodwood, and the Cup races do look like being enriched significantly next year by a good crop of four-year-old stayers; Rekindling ran a 120 timefigure in staying on dourly into fourth in the St Leger also.

None of the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes (won by Alyssa with a timefigure of just 71), the Group 3 Sceptre Stakes (Music Box, 89) or the Group 2 Park Stakes (Aclaim, 92) went by in anything like a good time, the first-named and last-named resulting from steady early paces and relative sprints to the line.

Aclaim’s race allowed for a revealing one-on-one comparison with the Champagne Stakes won by Seahenge at the same seven-furlong distance 35 minutes later. Aclaim was 0.19s quicker, but Seahenge is just a two-year-old and the difference is usually near to 2.0s in favour of the older horses.

Seahenge’s timefigure of 103 is not especially good, either, but he achieved it by running the last three furlongs fractionally quicker (34.58s, 105.9% finishing speed) than any of the older horses, and that is impressive.

Sectional upgrading suggests that the son of Scat Daddy would have every chance against Expert Eye (division leader with a 114 timefigure) were they to meet again.

Seahenge ran fastest of the juvenile group winners at Doncaster, but that was in part because the other such races were even more tactical if anything. Laurens recorded a timefigure of just 84 in winning the Group 2 May Hill Stakes on the Thursday and Heartache posted a 99 in landing the Group 2 Flying Childers on the Friday.

Indeed, the two fastest timefigures by two-year-olds in Britain and Ireland in the period under review came not in group races but in minor events, with Shabaaby (109 timefigure) on Wednesday at Doncaster and Spud (105) on Friday at Chester both looking smart prospects.

Nobleman’s Nest (103) could easily be in the same category after winning a nursery on the opening day at Doncaster impressively.