Ratings Update: Mendelssohn steals Snow's Thunder in Dubai

There was something for everyone over Easter – Flat, jumps, all-weather – but we’ll start in Dubai where Thunder Snow capped a hugely successful World Cup meeting for Godolphin with victory in the big race itself over US-trained favourite West Coast. Thunder Snow’s win by nearly six lengths represents his best effort to date, taking his dirt/all-weather rating from 123 to 126, though it’s worth noting that’s a bit higher than his turf rating of 122 should he return to Europe later in the year.

Godolphin’s other Group 1 winners on the card all improved their ratings a little too, with six-year-old Jungle Cat (122 from 119) confirming himself better than ever by completing a hat-trick in the Al Quoz Sprint, Benbatl (125 from 123) beating last year’s winner Vivlos in the Dubai Turf, and Hawkbill (125 from 123) landing his first Group 1 since the 2016 Eclipse in the Dubai Sheema Classic.

Thunder Snow had won the UAE Derby on the same card twelve months earlier and Saturday’s renewal of that contest saw a stunning performance, on his dirt debut, from the Aidan O’Brien-trained Mendelssohn which takes his rating from 116 to 127. Mendelssohn ended his two-year-old campaign winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf and had made a winning reappearance in a listed race on the polytrack at Dundalk last month, but he’s bred for the dirt (half-brother to top-class US mare Beholder) and stormed clear to record an 18½ length win. He’ll face stronger opposition in the Kentucky Derby where dominating to the same extent will be harder for a start, but his new rating puts him in the mix.

Monster - Mendelssohn delivers for Ryan Moore and Aidan O’Brien in the UAE Derby! All roads to the @KentuckyDerby… #DWC18 pic.twitter.com/nSUkcq6l96

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) March 31, 2018

Gronkowski (110p from 104p) also won his trial for the Kentucky Derby when winning the listed Burradon Stakes at Newcastle on Good Friday, Jeremy Noseda’s colt completing a four-timer in the process with a good turn of foot, though he clearly has much more improvement to find to figure at Churchill Downs.

The main meeting on Good Friday was at Lingfield where it was All-Weather Championships Finals day. Some of the races were stronger than others, and performance of the day came in the Sprint Final where French colt City Light (123 from 114) denied Kachy a course-and-distance hat-trick with last year’s winner Kimberella back in third. There were three French-trained winners on the card in all, with Lucky Team causing an upset in running a career-best (114) to end favourite Second Thought’s unbeaten all-weather record.   

Second Thought’s trainer William Haggas had compensation when Victory Bond (118 from 116) made it three out of five on the all-weather in the fixture’s most valuable event, the ten-furlong Easter Classic. He could yet confirm himself an improved performer back on turf.

Victory Bond wins the big one at @LingfieldPark in the Easter Classic All-Weather Middle Distance Championship

All the racing action on @ITV4 #AWChamps pic.twitter.com/z13eFMaVgD

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 30, 2018

The turf season has yet to hit to full stride but there were a few performances of note on Musselburgh’s Saturday card where conditions were unusually testing for the track. Four-year-old Kyllang Rock made a successful reappearance for the second year running and seems to have returned an improved sprinter (116 from 112) in beating older rivals, headed by the 114-rated Alpha Delphini, in the five-furlong conditions event. There was also a probable future pattern performer in the Queen’s Cup where Time To Study (remains on 116) failed by just a neck to reel in Brandon Castle (106 from 103) in the mile and three-quarter handicap. There should be a good staying prize in the Mark Johnston-trained runner-up this season. There was a good performance, too, in the seven-furlong handicap where Lualiwa (109 from 100) proved better than ever back on turf and with a run under his belt.

Switching codes, Fairyhouse staged the top jumping action over the Easter weekend, with Ireland’s richest jumps race, the Irish Grand National the highlight on Monday. While thirty set out, only eight finished in a dramatic renewal run in extremely testing conditions, though remarkably five of those who got round were separated by little more than a length at the line. Gordon Elliott won the race for the first time when one of his thirteen runners, General Principle (144 from 136), got up late, but a lot of credit has to go to fourth-past-the-post Bellshill (162 from 156), conceding lumps of weight to the others involved in the finish. He went like the best horse for much of the way, jumping well in the main and making much of the running, but was clearly tiring when jumping badly left at the final fence, hampering a couple of others in the process and demoted to fifth as a result. Third to Might Bite in last year’s RSA, Bellshill is still lightly raced over fences and well worth another crack at a Grade 1 at some stage.

What a remarkable finish - General Principle wins the @BoyleSports Irish Grand National! @Fairyhouse pic.twitter.com/Dm3qGV62vj

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) April 2, 2018

Bellshill’s trainer Willie Mullins and Elliott had all nine runners between them in the Ryanair Gold Cup Novices’ Chase, the big race on Sunday. Mullins came out on top this time, with Al Boum Photo (160 from 155) gaining compensation for his late fall in the RSA at Cheltenham to beat Elliott’s JLT winner Shattered Love. A duel between representatives of the same two stables looked on the cards in the Devenish Chase on Monday, a new Grade 2 contest over two and a half miles. Un de Sceaux didn’t need to improve (166) to return to winning ways, but Elliott’s much-improved Doctor Phoenix was in the process of running his best race yet (162 from 157), albeit in receipt of weight from the winner, and was upsides when taking a heavy fall two out.

Neither Cheltenham winner Laurina (150p) nor Getabird (147), who’d disappointed in the Supreme, had to improve their ratings in winning their respective novice hurdles, but former smart Flat stayer Pallasator showed plenty of improvement on previous hurdle form (144p from 126p) when winning the Grade 2 novice hurdle over two and a half miles, though some of his rivals disappointed after some big efforts at Cheltenham.