Dubai Ratings Update: Chrome shines on World Cup Night

There was no Prince Bishop to spoil the party this year, despite Dubai World Cup winner California Chrome getting a remarkably similar wide trip to the one which most observers believed led to his defeat in the race 12 month earlier. What is clear is that the 2014 Kentucky Derby winner is a much improved model as a five-year-old - indeed, he's not too far off the five-length better performer that his trainer Art Sherman had declared he was beforehand.

In travelling at least four horse-widths off the rail for the majority of the race, there is no doubt California Chrome was a good deal better than the bare result – but by exactly how much? That is hard to quantify - and open to a deal of subjectivity - but we have credited him with a career-best Timeform rating of 132. That effort puts him on a par with Invasor (2007), but not quite as good as Curlin, who achieved a rating of 134 in the 2008 renewal, the pair two of the better winners in the immediate period before the tapeta era.

California Chrome’s current rating puts him top of the tree where the Timeform Global Rankings are concerned, and it will be fascinating to see if he can maintain, or even surpass, that level of form back in the States. A clash with the 131-rated Beholder in the Breeders’ Cup Classic could well be something to savour.

Of the other dirt races that took place on the card, the best performance came from locally-trained Muarrab (125), who produced a career-best effort in the Golden Shaheen, just getting the better of American speedster X Y Jet (124) in a protracted battle in the straight.

One Man Band kicked things off with an impressive pillar-to-post victory in the Godolphin Mile, recording a rating of 122, forging clear despite setting strong fractions. With Marking and Sloane Avenue both underperforming, however, this probably didn’t take as much winning as had looked likely beforehand.

Japanese-trained UAE Derby winner Lani (114) is likely to head to the Kentucky Derby, having produced something of a surprise in defeating the disappointing Polar River (remains on 117) in a muddling race. He will need to step up considerably on this effort, though, if wanting to get anywhere near the best of the US three-year-olds.

On turf, Postponed (130 from 127) claimed his place as joint-best turf horse in the World (alongside Able Friend) with a top-class performance in the Dubai Sheema Classic, beating Duramente (127) by two lengths. Postponed has improved since his win in last year’s King George, and he sets a fair level for the middle-distance performers to aim at during the forthcoming European Flat season.

It isn’t inconceivable that Dubai Gold Cup winner Vazirabad (127) could clash with Postponed at some stage this year, as his trainer, Alain de Royer-Dupre, suggested that his high-class stayer may well drop back in trip for a summer campaign. Far from disgraced in second under a canny ride from Jamie Spencer, Big Orange now boasts a rating of 123.

Japan claimed their second victory on the evening when Real Steel (124) defeated Euro Charline (118) and the held-up Tryster (back down to 123) in the Dubai Turf. Always well placed under Ryan Moore, Real Steel had enough in hand to hold off the closers – Tryster faring best, but just unable to deploy his turn of foot to best effect in this deeper Group 1 than the one he’d won previously.

To cap off a truly International affair, the Australians came to the party with the evergreen veteran Buffering (126) running very close to a career-best in taking the Al Quoz Sprint from Ertijaal (126) and Peniaphobia (126). A tilt at the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot looks on the cards, and he is likely to take plenty of beating there if remaining in this sort of form.