3 minute read
A huge day of Group One racing and we’ve got all the ratings ready to go.
George Ryder Stakes – Autumn Glow (128)
With every start, the new superstar of Australian racing enhances her record, reputation and, on Saturday, her rating.
Autumn Glow has hit a big new peak rating at Racing & Sports, going 128, up from 124 last start and 126 first up.
This was a much stronger pace than her two runs this time in, especially last start, and as suspected, she relished the test, still finishing strongly and doing it easily inside the final 100m.
128 is starting to really put her into generational territory. It's not quite your Black Caviar (136) or Winx (134), but think of some of the other top mares in history and she's right up there.
It matches the peak RAS rating of Atlantic Jewel, More Joyous and Miss Andretti, while Makybe Diva had a Timeform rating of 129 in her third Melbourne Cup, as does Pride Of Jenni in her Queen Elizabeth Stakes win, also matched byw Sunline (which she ran twice, while going 125+ on a remarkable 12 times).
Via Sistina also holds a peak rating of 132 in her track record first Cox Plate.
She's now gone slightly past Typhoon Tracy (peak of 127), and going back even further, some of the other best mares in Australian history (using Racing & Sports' historical Timeform ratings):
Maybe Mahal: 128
Emancipation: 127
Let's Elope: 127
The elusive 130 mark remains firmly in sight. If she goes to the Doncaster and beats the 122 rated Sheza Alibi with 56.5kg, I'd hazard a guess that she'd go awfully close to hitting 130 on the weight-sensitive Timeform scale, if not quite the RAS scale.
If she goes to the Queen Elizabeth and thumps Aeliana, Sir Delius and Dubai Honour, that could also be on the cards.
If she goes to the Queen Of The Turf? No, we don't even entertain that (surely impossible) possibility.
Golden Slipper – Guest House (120)
Big win from Guest House to take the Golden Slipper, slicing through under Zac Lloyd. The time is quite solid as it usually ends up being in a Slipper, and finally we have a two-year-old race that's up to scratch.
A rating of 120 is smack bang on average for a Golden Slipper, something we thought might be a pipe dream a few weeks ago.
It's still below the top Slipper winners such as Sepoy, Dance Hero and Miss Finland (124), and Pierro (123), but sits fairly favourable over recent winners Shinzo (119), Fireburn (118), Lady Of Camelot (118) and Marhoona (116), tying with Farnan at 120 and behind Stay Inside at 122.
A strong pace clearly helped Guest House settle a bit better, and sectionally he was very well handled.
Streisand was very good up on a strong speed, the splits showing she was too close to that speed and just as good as the winner, which tracks given their respective Blue Diamond runs.
The way he finished off here he'd have to be the one to beat in a Sires if they pressed on, but if not, it'll be interesting to see if anything else steps up.
Rosehill Guineas – Autumn Boy (118)
Things couldn't have worked out much better for Autumn Boy who sprinted best to win a slowly run Rosehill Guineas, matching his peak rating in the Caulfield Guineas, albeit achieved differently.
I thought it was a poor ride on Observer, who simply had to roll faster in the lead and see if he could drag the sprint out of the others, but that wasn't to be. He's gone even slower than the Australian Guineas win when unable to lead, and some 23 pounds slower than his win first up at Caulfield.
Regardless, Autumn Boy has beaten him twice now so it's hard to put too many excuses the other way.
A rating of 118 is below the typical winning standard for a Rosehill Guineas winner, which sits at 120, topped by Dundeel and Anamoe at 125.
It does sit in line with Broadsiding last year and ahead of his sire The Autumn Sun, Mo'unga, D'argento, Riff Rocket and Lindermann (all 116).
Sectionally, the clear run of the race was Green Spaces who is into Derby favourite which is probably fair enough, although if Observer did press on there he'd have to be interesting given his SP.
Ranvet Stakes – Aeliana (123)
Aeliana overhauled a brave Lindermann to win the Ranvet, going to a new peak of 123 in the process.
Lindermann has run up to his absolute best, arguably the best he's ever gone on the clock but she was just a bit too strong late in good time.
It was a strange race in the small field, Sir Delius last of five in run and running on well for a narrow third when many expected him to be pouring the pressure on up front.
It was probably Aeliana's day – small field, no Autumn Glow, Sir Delius only second up, but she's still put up a strong number that says she'll be competitive in anything, and if she backs up in next week's Tancred Stakes, she's the one to beat.
The Galaxy – Marhoona (117)
Narrow win from last year's Slipper winner Marhoona to take The Galaxy in a real handicap finish, less than half a length across the first six and only 2.1 lengths across the entire field.
While the weights have something to do with the tight spread, the pace is the overarching factor- they've gone very, very slowly for a Group 1 sprint, the time figure of 83 only just bettering the Midway and behind the rest of the races on the clock.
Jedibeel was excellent from the back and has matched his peak of 116, Briasa was just fair even with the weight (given a good ride midfield in my opinion), and it's only going to get tougher in a TJ.
