Timefigure review: York Ebor Festival 2018

Wednesday

The highlight of the opening day of York’s Ebor meeting - and arguably the meeting as a whole – was provided by Roaring Lion in the Juddmonte International. Up against six other 2018 Group 1 winners, chiefly King George VI winner Poet’s Word, in a proper clash of the generations, Roaring Lion routed his rivals even more impressively than he had when winning the Dante over C&D in May, running to a form rating of 130. Race times, as readers will know by now, are largely a consequence of how races are run and a relatively modest pace set by Thunder Snow was never going to result in an outstanding time, so in the circumstances a winning timefigure of 114 on top of a race-leading sectional upgrade of 8 lb is highly respectable.

What a performance from Roaring Lion in the Juddmonte International @yorkracecourse!

The three-year-old records his second success at Group One level and remains unbeaten at the track.👏#Ebor

Results ➡️ https://t.co/7iJOPsdIyZ pic.twitter.com/8Em2v3hqsb

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) August 22, 2018

On the contrary, the preceding Great Voltigeur Stakes was run at a strong pace and resulted in the winner Old Persian returning a timefigure of 122 (same as his form rating) with no sectional upgrade. With his stablemate Cross Counter - who had beaten Derby runner-up Dee Ex Bee in a timefigure of 124 last time out in the Gordon Stakes - just behind him in second, the form is hard to question. All the same, a couple that finished behind, such as The Pentagon and Kew Gardens, shaped just as well with the St Leger in mind.  

Great Voltigeur fifth Wells Farrh Go won the Acomb Stakes in 2017 and the imposing Phoenix of Spain achieved a similar level of form – 109 – in coming through impressively from last place to win this year’s renewal. His timefigure of 99 can be upgraded to 111 after sectionals have been incorporated and that marks him out as not only the best two-year-prospect in the race, but the best two-year prospect at the meeting.

Thursday

There was no let-up in quality on the second day, with Yorkshire Oaks winner Sea of Class and Galtres Stakes winner Lah Ti Dar returning form ratings of 123 and 122, respectively. As entry conditions dictate, the Yorkshire Oaks invariably takes far more winning than the Galtres, but had things gone more smoothly for Lah Ti Dar earlier in the season she would quite likely have taken in the Oaks (for which she was favourite at the point she was pulled out) and Irish Oaks, before ending up in the Yorkshire Oaks, herself. For their part, neither Sea of Class (110) nor Lah Ti Dar (106) achieved a timefigure quite up to their rating even after sectional upgrades have been added, but that is no slight on either.

James Doyle and Sea Of Class play it cool again as they race away in the Darley Yorkshire Oaks #Ebor

Results ▶️ https://t.co/7iJOPsdIyZ pic.twitter.com/3CULQFB9SK

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) August 23, 2018

Arc-bound Sea of Class ran both the first nine furlongs and the last three furlongs faster than Lah Ti Dar, but the latter had no company for all that second section and it was no surprise that the St Leger was immediately nominated as her target. Her relentless gallop should be ideal for Doncaster’s long straight and she will receive 3 lb from the colts.

Much like the main juvenile race on the opening day, the Lowther Stakes won by Fairyland returned an unremarkable timefigure (99), but on this occasion there was neither an accompanying sectional upgrade nor splendour to the performance that suggests she is bound for success, either at the top level or beyond sprint distances.  

Friday

A record proportion of southerners might be selling up and moving north, as reported over the weekend, but trainer Charlie Hills might not consider another visit to York to be the right move for champion sprinter Battaash after he could finish only fourth in the Nunthorpe for the second year running. In recent years, the Nunthorpe has been something of a parochial affair prone to shock results, and seven-year-old Alpha Delphini, who had finished only eighth in 2017 and hadn’t previously won as much as a pattern race, became the third winner since 2010 to score at odds of 40/1 or bigger. A 121 timefigure was a marked improvement on anything he had achieved before, and maybe shouldn’t have come as a total surprise given his half-brother Tangerine Trees (also trained by Bryan Smart) had done something remarkably similar as a six-year-old in 2011 when he ended up winning the Prix de l’Abbaye.

Wow! So, so tight

Alpha Delphini by the smallest of margins in the Nunthorpe Stakes victory at @yorkracecourse

Watch the action LIVE on @ITV pic.twitter.com/qoBERiYV2U

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) August 24, 2018

Where Battaash failed, the other star on show on Thursday, Gold Cup winner Stradivarius, lured by the prospect of a £1 million bonus for winning four nominated staying races, delivered, albeit not quite in the manner expected of an 11/4-on shot. A muddling pace (set by his own ‘pacemaker’), followed by an unexpected - but ultimately unsuccessful - early dash for home by Count Octave, ensured that Stradivarius had to really knuckle down to land the bonus. His winning timefigure of 114 was 8 lb below the 122 he recorded in the St Leger last year, but he might yet improve on it in the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day, in which he was third in 2017 but will start favourite this year.  

Once again, neither the Gimcrack which was won in a timefigure of 104 by Emaraaty Ana, nor the Convivial Maiden Stakes – the richest maiden in Europe - won by Commanding Officer in a form rating of 88 and a timefigure of just 81, did little to alter the suspicion that though many of the best older horses in training adorned the meeting, the best two-year-olds stayed at home.

Saturday

Saturday’s Ebor, the eponymous race after which the whole meeting takes its name, has been the climax of the meeting since the four-day Festival was moved forward so that it would finish on a weekend and, with record prize money on offer, this year’s Ebor was never going to be any different. The field contained for the most part exposed handicappers, and would be a much more interesting spectacle if the rules concerning participation were altered so that involvement was dependent upon rating irrespective of age.

One exception, for no other reason than he had had fewer chances to show himself less well treated in a handicapping environment than his rivals, because he’d only ever run in one handicap previously (which he won), was Muntahaa. The 2017 John Porter winner made his class tell in a race run at a slightly slower pace than the ‘three-year-old Ebor’, the Melrose Handicap, an hour earlier, quickening clear of his stablemate Weekender after travelling notably strongly throughout.

Muntahaa leads home Weekender to complete a one-two for John Gosden in the Sky Bet Ebor @yorkracecourse

Results ▶️ https://t.co/7iJOPsdIyZ pic.twitter.com/gtDTny8CCv

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) August 25, 2018

Muntahaa’s timefigure of 108 compared to his form rating of 123 underlines that the emphasis was on speed; that wasn’t the case in the Melrose (whose winner was guaranteed a place in the 2019 Ebor), where the leaders covered the distance from around a mile out to under two furlongs faster than in the Ebor before a slower finish. Winner Ghostwriter (timefigure of 105, same as his form rating) had been gelded and was more focussed as a result, but runner-up Supanova (99) looked the best-handicapped horse in the field. His trainer David Simcock is a master at training stayers and Supanova could well develop into a pattern horse next year.        

Two-year-old Well Done Fox improved when winning the Julia Graves Stakes but in common with the other leading youngsters from the week, a 103 timefigure isn’t particularly significant in the wider scheme of things.

Click to read York Ebor Ratings Update