WE have a new leader among the two-year-olds since I last wrote on these pages, and he is a good one, though the rapidly changing nature of these things means that Lucky Vega may get leapfrogged by another in the coming weeks.

The Jessica Harrington-trained colt won a competitive-looking Group 1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh on the 9th of this month in impressive style by three and a half lengths from Aloha Star (who was demoted a place) and gets a 117 figure after a slight adjustment for sectionals.

The British-trained colts Supremacy (114) and Master Of The Seas (112) are next in the pecking order.

Aloha Star (102) did no harm to the form of Frenetic (102), who has been beaten by Miss Amulet (101) (a provisional 110 after her Lowther win on Thursday) in a listed race at Naas and won a listed race at the Curragh since Aloha Star pipped her in a Group 2 at the Curragh in July.

The Lir Jet (promoted to second) and Law Of Indices are considered to have run fractionally below their previous bests of 107 and 106 in the Phoenix, while St Mark’s Basilica in fifth remains a colt of no small promise on a figure of 104.

But Lucky Vega was far too good for them on the day, running 35.55s for the second half of the six-furlong contest and showing the long stride and fairly relaxed cadence (between 2.36 and 2.29 strides/second) of one likely to be at least as effective at seven/eight furlongs in time. It should take a good one to beat him.

Classic winners

One with aspirations to scale similar heights is Military Style, who got home just in front in the Group 3 JRA Tyros Stakes at Leopardstown on the 6th. The race has been won by classic winners in recent years but this was probably a slightly below-par renewal and Military Style is now rated 103, upgraded due to doing plenty of running early on.

There was also a Group 3 win on that card for Shale in the Silver Flash Stakes, which earned her a 101 figure in a more evenly-paced race, and a few days later for Star Of Emaraaty (102) at Newmarket in the Group 3 Sweet Solera Stakes.

Listed wins went the way of Saint Lawrence (97) and Zoetic (95) at Newbury on the weekend just gone, while a mention needs to be made of the maiden winners Politics (96, Sandown) and Thunder Moon (100, the Curragh), the latter a 10/1 success for those who crunched the numbers from the barrier trials at Dundalk.