Following a successful Breeders’ Cup for the Europeans with five winners, Adam Houghton reveals how their performances stack up against other recent winners on Timeform ratings.
Auguste Rodin (Turf)
The 2023 edition of the Breeders’ Cup Turf is one that will prove more memorable for the ride on the winner rather than the race itself, hardly a vintage contest as it turned out.
In pure form terms, Auguste Rodin didn’t have to do any more than when winning the Irish Champion Stakes on his previous start, leaving the impression he wasn’t doing much in front late on as he repelled the challenge of leading US hope Up To The Mark by three quarters of a length.
The crucial stage of the race was on the home turn when a dream split opened up on the inside for Auguste Rodin as the leader edged right, though he still deserves credit for the way he took advantage, looking every inch a high-class colt as he quickened to lead in no time.
And while the race perhaps didn’t take as much winning as seemed likely beforehand – especially as his chief rivals among the European contingent were all below form – Auguste Rodin still produced one of the better efforts in the Turf in recent years.
For context, he ran to a Timeform performance rating of 126, up there with Enable (127 plus 3lb sex allowance in 2018), Highland Reel (129 in 2016) and Yibir (127 in 2021) among the best winners in the last decade.
Already successful in the Derby and Irish Derby, as well as at Leopardstown, Auguste Rodin has enjoyed a fine campaign despite a couple of notable blips and a master of rating of 129 will ensure that he ends it as one of the highest-rated three-year-olds in Europe – on a par with Big Rock and behind only Ace Impact (133).
Master of The Seas (Mile)
This was one of the better renewals of the Breeders’ Cup Mile in recent memory and for the third year running it went the way of Charlie Appleby, whose wins have been achieved with three different horses.
This time the winner in question was Master of The Seas, who has really thrived since being campaigned on this side of the Atlantic (ran just once in Britain this year), losing out narrowly to Up To The Mark on his previous start and now successful at Grade 1 level either side of that reversal.
The five-year-old had to overcome unfavourable circumstances on this occasion, too, staying on strongly to get the verdict by a nose from 1000 Guineas winner Mawj having still had plenty of ground to make up when forced very wide entering the straight.
A high-class miler on his day, Master of The Seas ran right up to his pre-race master rating of 125 and it’s the sort of performance that would have been good enough to win most other editions of the Mile in the last decade, albeit the mares Tepin (125 plus 3lb sex allowance in 2015) and Uni (124 plus 3lb sex allowance in 2019) would have been tough opponents in their respective years.
Inspiral (Filly & Mare Turf)
A thrilling finish to the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf was fought out by a pair of Europeans with four Group 1 wins between them this year – Inspiral at a mile and Warm Heart at a mile and a half – with the speed of Inspiral proving crucial over this intermediate trip, getting her out of trouble after she’d conceded first run to a borderline very smart rival.
Inspiral was completing a top-level hat-trick following her wins in the Prix Jacques le Marois (for the second year running) and Sun Chariot Stakes, ending her season on a high, and her connections intimated afterwards that she’s likely to stay in training as a five-year-old.
The style of this success suggests she has unfinished business over this trip, still very strong at the finish as she collared Warm Heart in the final strides to get the verdict by a neck, and she’s likely to mount a bold defence of her crown at Del Mar if holding her form together in 2024.
Indeed, it’s testament to Inspiral’s ability that she didn’t need to be at her very best to gain the sixth Group/Grade 1 victory of her career at Santa Anita. She has a master rating of 125, but this form was similar to that shown by Loves Only You (122 in 2021) and Tuesday (122 in 2022), the other highest-rated winners of the Filly & Mare Turf in the last decade.
Big Evs (Juvenile Turf Sprint)
Mick Appleby’s Big Evs led home a one-two-three for the Europeans in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint and the manner in which he did it was all rather routine, soon perfectly placed behind the pace-setter and not for catching in the final furlong even as the runner-up closed strongly down the outside.
An impressive winner of the Flying Childers Stakes the time before, Big Evs didn’t need to improve on that form in beating Valiant Force by half a length at Santa Anita, but it was still another notable effort, one of the best in the short history of the Juvenile Turf Sprint since it was added to the Breeders’ Cup programme in 2018.
For context, Big Evs ran to a performance rating of 114 which puts him right up there with Bulletin (115 in 2018) among the highest-rated winners. It was the perfect way to cap a productive two-year-old campaign, his fourth win from six starts, and he’s got the scope to train on and hold his own in all-aged sprints in 2024.
Unquestionable (Juvenile Turf)
Favourite River Tiber was controversially withdrawn by the racecourse vets on the morning of the race, but trainer Aidan O’Brien wasn’t to be denied as he gained a sixth success in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf with one of his other runners, Unquestionable, who was chased home by Mountain Bear in a one-two for Ballydoyle.
Runner-up in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere on his previous start, Unquestionable looked to have the strongest form beforehand and it took little in the way of improvement for him to go one place better at Santa Anita, hitting the front inside the final furlong and keeping going well from there to beat his fast-finishing stablemate by a length and a half.
In truth, this was probably just an ordinary renewal of the Juvenile Turf – Line of Duty (112 in 2018) is the only winner in the last decade to have shown lesser form in victory – and a revised master rating of 114 (from 113) still leaves Unquestionable some way behind City of Troy (125p) and Henry Longfellow (120p) among the top juveniles at Ballydoyle.
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