THERE were a handful of listed races and couple of Group 3s on the flat in Ireland in the period under review.
Those Group 3s went to Urban Beat (107, at Dundalk, where the surface is now quite quick) and Poetic Flare (109, Killavullan Stakes, at Leopardstown), the latter just outside the top 30 two-year-olds in Europe as a consequence.
Those listed races went the way of Lustown Baba (107) at the Curragh, Surrounding (101) at Leopardstown, and Parent’s Prayer (107) and Barrington Court (102) at Naas, all but the last-named involving sectional upgrading.
That Naas card started with three races for two-year-olds at six furlongs, the Ger Lyons-trained Power Under Me particularly impressing on the clock with a 98-rated performance on his winning debut in the colts and geldings’ maiden.
Other winning juveniles to impress on the clock recently include Willow (86) and Benaud (89) at Leopardstown, and Shark Two One (100) at Redcar, where there might have been a track bias.
The listed win by six-year-old Dakota Gold at Nottingham last Wednesday has to be among his very best, a 114 figure seemingly a minimum. He would have gone close in the Champions Sprint itself, at least in theory.
Jumpers
Ratings over jumps are in the region of 40 higher, so that the victory of The Storyteller (160) in a Grade 3 Chase at Punchestown represents a smart performance, not a Frankel-eclipsing one!
The other Grade 3 on that card was a slowly run novice in which Zarkareva (125) made the most of the considerable weight she received from Polished Steel (144).
The good novices have been rather slower out of the traps in Britain, but a few more of them limbered up in the last week, including the chase winners Third Time Lucki (126) at Uttoxeter, Le Patriote (140) at Market Rasen and If The Cap Fits (145) at Ffos Las.
The last-named was rated 159 over hurdles not so long ago and promises to go a long way in this game, as might runner-up Fiddlerontheroof (137 here, 153 over hurdles). Emitom (136 previously, just 123 here) made up the field in what must be one of the classiest three-runner novice chases in recent times.
Ffos Las on Sunday also saw a decent field for the Welsh Champion Hurdle, which went to Sceau Royal from top-weight Ballyandy, both returning 154-rated performances.
Welsh-trained Silver Streak went instead for the listed hurdle at Kempton on the same day, and to no small effect, as he gave weight and a beating to useful rivals and posted a 156 sectionally adjusted rating which equals the 2019 Champion Hurdle third’s previous best.
There were other good winning efforts on the Kempton card from Mrs Hyde (130) in a listed novices’ hurdle and Locker Room Talk (144) in an 18-furlong handicap chase.
Good horses are popping up at unexpected venues a bit more often than usual in these strange times, and Sedgefield bumper winner Dargiannini may be one such. His time was much faster than the two hurdles at the same distance on the card, and he gets a 130 rating which is only 10lb to 15lb shy of a Cheltenham Champion Bumper winner.
The major weekend meeting at Auteuil saw big wins for the three-year-old hurdlers Theleme (144) and Hotesse Du Chenet (140), and for the chasers Docteur De Ballon (158) and Paul’s Saga (163).