Ratings Update: City of Troy a high-class Dewhurst winner
Andrew Asquith provides the Timeform ratings reaction following Future Champions Festival at Newmarket.
Newmarket’s Future Champions Festival produced another cracking two days of racing, but the one horse who stole the show was undoubtedly City of Troy (125p from 119p) who produced the best two-year-old performance of the season in the Dewhurst Stakes on Saturday.
Six of his seven rivals had already won a pattern event, so the race did have plenty of depth, but even before the race it was City of Troy who was the main focal point, and it was hard not to be impressed by his display on the track, winning in the style of a top-class prospect.
City of Troy produced a performance as good as any in the race over the past decade, while only Frankel achieved a higher Timeform performance rating in the Dewhurst this century.
The sky really is the limit for City of Troy, who is already a short price for the 2000 Guineas and the Derby next year, while you have to shop around for a double-figure price about him completing the Triple Crown. He will head into next year as one of, if not the most exciting horse in training and he could hardly be in better hands.
This year's Cesarewitch produced a bigger field and more quality than 12 months ago and it is a pretty easy result to assess, smart jumper The Shunter (107 from 99) improving for the stamina test to win his first handicap on the Flat on just his sixth start in this sphere, and in the process becoming the fifth Irish-trained winner of the race in the last six years. He represents a trainer that does things differently to many, but does so in the most effective way, and The Shunter will remain of interest back over jumps after adding this big Flat handicap to his other National Hunt ones.
The Autumn Stakes which opened the card on Saturday saw the Charlie Appleby-trained Ancient Wisdom (118 from 99) produce a much-improved performance and now has a Timeform rating of 118. He looked very promising in his first two starts and the form of his third-place finish to Rosallion in the Pat Eddery Stakes at Ascot, which looked disappointing performance at the time, has worked out incredibly well.
He was given the best part of three months off afterwards and showed the benefit in no uncertain terms, relishing the step up to a mile for the first time and also well suited by a truly-run race. That performance has put him into the reckoning for a Classic next season, though it would be a version of the Derby rather than a Guineas he will more than likely be suited to, given how he shapes and the stamina in his pedigree.
Ancient Wisdom is rated behind only National Stakes winner Henry Longfellow (120p) and Middle Park winner Vandeek (119p) on Timeform’s scale, so he is in and around the top juveniles and promises to excel of middle distances next season. It is worth noting that he had a pronounced knee action which suggests he may be seen to better effect on ground with ease in it.
It was a disappointing turnout for the Zetland Stakes and, Arabian Crown (114p from 105p), who set the standard on form heading into the race, outclassed his opposition made up of novice and maiden winners to give Charlie Appleby a third straight win in the race.
He was ridden like the best horse in the race and powered away in the closing stages, proving well suited by the step up to a mile and a quarter. Admittedly, it wasn’t a deep race, but he is another horse to look forward to next season, more than likely to take in a Derby trial in the spring and, interestingly, he is a similar price to stablemate Ancient Wisdom for the Derby at Epsom.
The Fillies’ Mile took centre stage on Friday but, given a trio of fillies who were beaten at Group 2 level last time fought out the finish, it hardly looks a vintage renewal, for all Ylang Ylang (108 from 102) did show improved form to record a first Group 1 win.
She proved well suited by the step up to a mile, seeing out the longer trip strongly in a well-run race and she appeals as more of an Oaks filly for next year rather than a Guineas one, but given how Aidan O’Brien’s horses are campaigned, she will more than likely take in both anyway.
Shuwari (107 from 107p) and See The Fire (104 from 96p) completed the places and both have the potential to progress further next season, particularly over further, but Ylang Ylang was the winner on merit. She isn’t the biggest, but she has lots of stamina on both sides of her pedigree and her style of running suggests she’ll be seen in a different light over middle distances next year.
Ylang Ylang is the stablemate of Timeform’s top-rated two-year-old Opera Singer (114p), who won the Prix Marcel Boussac at Longchamp earlier this month and is the current ante-post favourite for the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks.
The Oh So Sharp Stakes hasn’t got the most illustrious roll of honour, but this year’s renewal may prove to be one of the best in a while, with Dance Sequence (105p from 81P) and Skellet (104p) producing a good finish and producing form not far off the Fillies’ Mile.
Dance Sequence started odds-on for her debut and duly made a winning start, looking a nice prospect, but she progressed a chunk after three months off to take this rise in class in her stride, leaving the form of her debut well behind. She will have no problem staying a mile next season and looks a most exciting prospect for 2024.
Skellet shaped very well on her debut after attracting support and confirmed that promise in spades when opening her account at Salisbury next time. She lost nothing in defeat upped into pattern company for the first time, unlucky to bump into another well above-average filly and enhancing her own reputation if anything. Skellet is a half-sister to Group 1 winner Skitter Scatter and is another filly to look forward to next season.
It was the usual double-figure field for the Cornwallis Stakes, though most had a fair bit to find on the book, and the form pick, Inquisitively (109p from 105p) ran out a decisive winner, reaching a level that puts him among the better recent winners of the race. He handled softer ground just fine and took a step forward from his York success, again impressing with how enthusiastically he travelled and he should have even more to offer next year. He will likely stay six furlongs and may be one for the Commonwealth Cup.
