TODAY sees the end of the flat season in Britain for the top older horses on Qipco Champions Day.

It has the star horse of the season but as a season finale it pales in comparison with the Breeders’ Cup in the US where virtually every top horse still racing is being targeted at the meeting, in each category, and it is a true championship decider (please let it not rain in Keeneland though).

It’s a much more low-key farewell to some of the European flat stars today and there seems to have been a surprising lack of advance promotion, given the best horse in Europe is putting his unbeaten record on the line in his final race against a very serious challenger.

You could even think that the Racing League seemed to get as much promotion on its channel a few months ago.

Baaeed really set himself out as a horse apart at this meeting last year when he won his first Group 1 on home soil in the QEII, beating a very good horse in Palace Pier.

Since then he has had four more easy wins to make his Group 1 tally at six. Yet he simply doesn’t have widespread appeal. Who outside racing will know the second best horse in the world is in action today? You do hope that on his final run, Jim Crowley will extend the horse to leave us with a proper evidence of how good he is.

Form experts

Despite his high rating with the form experts, Baaeed doesn’t have the wow appeal of Frankel or the CV of Sea The Stars where both took on the best around in memorable wins.

But the time gurus will tell you the clock never lies. The sectionals for the Sussex Stakes (last three furlongs, 11.20, 10.70 and 11.31secs) and the Juddmonte (a 10.96 sectional from four to three furlongs out, by far the fastest of the race) had them purring.

Form lines revolve around Mishriff – six and a half lengths behind Baaeed at York in the race he had won himself by six lengths the previous year.

Mishriff also contested the Eclipse and the Irish Champion Stakes. It’s hard not to think he performed a fair bit below his York win from last season.

And Adayar had beaten him a length and a quarter over the mile and a half in the King George last season. Last year’s middle-distance three-year-olds had proved decent, and looked much better than this year’s British crop.

But often times it’s best to listen to those closest to the horse, those who sit astride the beasts each time the button needs to be pressed.

Had it been made public at the time, Michael Kinane’s post Derby comment to John Oxx that “this horse is one of the greats” it might have been taken with a pinch of salt at the time.

Similarly – to add to Baaeed’s appeal, if you listened to Jim Crowley’s interview after Baaeed’s six-and-a-half-length defeat of Mishriff at York, he said he is never nervous riding the horse, he gives him the feeling of always being in control.

Indeed, there is the same element of wondering just how good Sea The Stars’ unbeaten son Baaeed is, as there was with his sire, he has not needed to be asked for everything in compiling his 10-race unbeaten record.

But is this his biggest test? Am I mad in thinking a full-throttle, efficiently ridden Adayar will give him a right good test? Timeform currently rate them 137 Baaeed to Adayar 130. Interestingly, Adayar was 127 to 125 for Baaeed in last year’s World’s Best Racehorse rankings.

Boosted

Adayar’s Derby win has been boosted by the second and third in Mojo Star and Hurricane Lane. The latter went on to win the Irish Derby, the Grand Prix de Paris and the St Leger, with Mojo Star again filling the runner-up position in the Doncaster classic. The Derby second returned this season with a terrific run and came within half a length of Kyprios in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

The best horse Baaeed had met was Palace Pier whom he beat a neck in the QEII last year when the rider on the second received some criticism for the tactics. Two early season defeats of Real World were impressive but still below outstanding performances. Modern Games is not the best three-year-old miler, even if he was dispatched smoothly at Goodwood.

I think if William Buick can use controlled aggression and use his horse’s guaranteed stamina to make an early bid for glory in the straight, it will be very interesting and Baaeed will need to go out with a wow performance to better him.