Ratings Update: Irish Champions Festival
Tony McFadden provides the Timeform ratings reaction following the Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown and the Curragh.
Aidan O'Brien celebrated the 4000th winner of his career at the weekend and during that time there won't have been many better advertisements of his talent than Auguste Rodin's victory in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday.
Auguste Rodin had brushed aside a poor effort in the 2000 Guineas when winning the Derby and he quickly left behind his King George flop to bounce back in the Irish Champion Stakes. Saturday's success was a third Group 1 victory of the season for Auguste Rodin - he also won the Irish Derby - and it was a slight career best on Timeform's figures, earning him a rating of 128 from 125.
That places him on the same mark as stablemate Paddington, who has enjoyed a more consistently brilliant campaign, and only 1 lb behind unbeaten French Derby winner Ace Impact in the three-year-old pecking order.
Auguste Rodin, who was suited by the return to a firmer surface, tracked the sound pace and always looked to be holding on after being produced to lead entering the final furlong, ultimately passing the post with half a length to spare over last year's winner Luxembourg (127 from 126), who proved at least as good as ever, with in-form filly Nashwa (remains 124) a short-head further back in third.
A clash with Mostahdaf (129) in the Breeders' Cup Turf would be a fascinating prospect with little to split the pair on ratings.
Auguste Rodin, who was a fifth consecutive winner of the Irish Champion Stakes for his trainer and a 12th in total, provided the highlight on an excellent afternoon for O'Brien who had three other winners on the card, starting with Diego Velazquez (105p from 95p) in the Champions Juvenile Stakes.
Diego Velazquez came with a big price tag (2.4 million guineas) and a reputation to match and he has made an excellent start to his career, winning both outings. He still looked a bit green when winning by half a length at Leopardstown, needing to be pushed along on the approach to the home turn, and that offers hope there should be plenty more to come. Auguste Rodin won the Champion Juvenile Stakes last season before landing the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster and Diego Velazquez will reportedly try to emulate his stablemate.
Adelaide River (remains 118) didn't need to match the placed form he had shown in the Irish Derby or Grand Prix de Paris to land the Group 3 Paddy Power Stakes from the front to complete a treble on the card for O'Brien, though Broadhurst (115p from 106p) did take a big step forward to win the concluding seven-furlong handicap in the style of one destined to make a mark in Group company.
Broadhurst had looked unlucky when runner-up on his handicap debut at Naas in May and he proved that he's a long way ahead of his mark by producing a superb turn of foot to pass the entire field in little more than a furlong, ultimately scoring a shade cosily by a length and a quarter. That earned the unexposed Broadhurst a rating of 115p. For context, Flight Plan is rated 115 (from 111) following his victory in the Group 2 Dullingham Park Stakes earlier on the card.
Tahiyra (remains 120p) didn't need to improve on her previous efforts to land the Matron Stakes, but she was impressive in completing her Group 1 hat-trick, typically travelling strongly and showing an exceptional turn of foot to quickly settle matters. She was well in control and still has the 'small p' to denote she remains capable of better. She is likely to stay a mile and a quarter if trainer Dermot Weld asks her to stretch out that far.
O'Brien secured his 4000th winner when Henry Longfellow (120p from 112p), a son of the multiple Group 1 winner Minding, landed the National Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday.
It's difficult to be dogmatic about exactly what Henry Longfellow achieved in the National Stakes as main market rival Bucanero Fuerte (117 from 118p) was well below the level he had shown when an impressive winner of the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes over a furlong shorter on his previous outing.
However, Henry Longfellow was certainly impressive and a good gallop on rain-softened ground allowed him to extend his superiority over Islandsinthestream (remains 106p) to five lengths (the margin had been two lengths in the Futurity). That victory took Henry Longfellow's unbeaten record to three and propels him to the head of the two-year-old division. However, stablemate City of Troy, who was a late non-runner at the Curragh on Sunday, is rated only 1 lb behind and has the potential to improve on that figure under the right circumstances.
There were some disappointments on the card for O'Brien, however, including in the Moyglare as Ylang Ylang (remains 105p) dropped away tamely and shaped as if amiss when last behind Fallen Angel (110p from 102p) who posted a performance that places her only 1 lb behind Ramatuelle, the highest-rated two-year-old filly in training.
Fallen Angel's perfomance in the Moyglare suggests she's likely to raise her game again when tackling a mile as it was impressive how she found extra when the strong-travelling runner-up briefly came upsides. Fallen Angel was well on top at the finish, and passed the post a length and a quarter clear of Vespertilio (106p from 104p) who in turn was four and a half lengths ahead of the pair who dead-heated for third.
O'Brien's Kyprios (remains 131), the champion stayer of last season, suffered an odds-on defeat on his belated reappearance in the Irish St Leger and had to settle for second behind Eldar Eldarov (123 from 122).
Kyprios has a good record fresh but seemed rusty on his return, needing to be pushed along half a mile out and only plugging away behind the winner. Kyprios won all six starts last season and his performance in the Prix du Cadran was the best by a stayer since the early '80s, so it will be interesting to see how close he can get to that sort of form now that he has a run under his belt.
Eldar Eldarov didn't need to take a big step forward on the sort of form he had shown when runner-up under a penalty in the Yorkshire Cup to take advantage of the below-par favourite. This was a second win at the highest level following his victory in the St Leger at Doncaster last season.
The leading fancies in the Flying Five Stakes underperformed and it was the reliable Moss Tucker (119 from 116) who took a small step forward to prevail in a race that worked out well for him (he was ideally positioned close behind the pace in the centre). There was also a Group 1 sprint in Britain at the weekend as Haydock staged the Sprint Cup.
Hot favourite Shaquille (123 from 125+) broke on terms for a change but after disputing the lead he folded tamely once headed and was eased off, trailing home last of all. Shaquille's disappointing display opened the door and it was Regional (118 from 117) who took advantage on his return to six furlongs, travelling powerfully within his comfort zone and digging in well to hold on from Shouldvebeenaring (118 from 109).
Regional didn't need to improve much on the form he had shown when breaking the track record in a five-furlong listed race in June and only Pipalong and Emaraaty Ana have won the Sprint Cup this century when posting a lower Timeform rating. However, that shouldn't detract from the excellent campaign he's put together.
Also at Haydock, Naqeeb (110p from 104p), a half-brother to Baaeed and Hukum, underlined his status as a horse to follow with a smooth success on his handicap debut, impressing with how well he travelled and how he pulled out more when challenged late in the day. He's likely to be contesting Group races next season.
