Which were the three highest-rated two-year-olds of 2023, according to Timeform?

Which were the three highest-rated two-year-olds of 2023, according to Timeform? At the time of writing, the first Classic of the season, the 2,000 Guineas on the Rowley Mile at Newmarket, which is scheduled for Saturday, May 4, 2024, is still some months away. However, as ever, the ante-post market is already well formed, so it’s high time we looked at what Timeform made of the two-year-old form in 2023.

According to the Timeform analysts, the three highest-rated two-year-olds of 2023 were City Of Troy (125p), Henry Longfellow (120p) and Vandeek (119p). However, it is worth noting that, in each case, the ‘p’ indicates that more than normal progress is likely, so the numerical ratings are by no means set in stone.

The first-named pair are both thrice-raced, both unbeaten and both trained by Aidan O’Brien, so it should come as no real surprise to learn that, at the time of writing, they dominate the ante-post market for the 2,000 Guineas. City Of Troy, who falls into the ‘high class’ ratings band, according to Timeform, is currently a top-priced even money favourite, while Henry Longfellow is merely ‘very smart’ and can be backed at 5/1, with 12/1 bar the front two.

Both Ballydoyle colts are already Group 1 winners, but, while Henry Longfellow apparently made a seamless transition to the highest level when winning the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh with plenty in hand, that form is open to question. He faced just three rivals on that occasion and, with his main market rival, Bucanero Fuerte, looking a non-stayer on his fist attempt over 7 furlongs, what he actually achieved remains to be seen. By contrast, City Of Troy was nearly as impressive when winning the Dewhurst Stakes as he’d been when winning the Superlative Stakes in the summer and looks a very, very solid option.

However, his current odds offer little in the way of value, so the ‘smart’ Vandeek is definitely worth a second look, for all that the jockey James Doyle, who rode the son of Havana Grey to victory in the Middle Park Stakes, described him as ‘a pure ball of speed’. Joint-trainer Simon Crisford has already said that he ‘could easily go further’, so, at 20/1 in a place for the 2,000 Guineas, it will be interesting to see which route connections take.

On his return to race riding in 1990, which was Lester Piggott’s first winner?

Lester Piggott retired from race riding, for the first time, in 1985 and became a successful trainer, based at Eve Lodge Stables in Newmarket. However, in 1987, Piggott was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment, of which he served just over a year, for income tax evasion and stripped of his OBE, which he had been awarded for service to horse racing in 1975.

In 1990, Piggott surprising came out of retirement to resume his career as a jockey at the age of 54. Indeed, less than a month shy of his fifty-fifth birthday, Piggott rode his first winner, Nicholas, trained by his wife, Susan, at Chepstow on October 16, 1990. Less than two weeks later, he rode Royal Academy, trained by Vincent O’Brien, to victory in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Belmont Park on October 27, 1990.

Piggott continued riding until 1995 – notably winning the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Rodrigo De Triano, trained by Peter Chapple-Hyam, in 1992 – before officially retiring for a final time. For the record, he rode his last winner, Palacegate Jack, trained by Jack Berry, at Haydock Park on October 5, 1994. All told, Piggott rode 4,493 winners, including an unprecedented 30 British Classic winners; he remains, far and away, the most successful jockey in the history of Royal Ascot, with 116 winners. It would probably be fair to say that we will never see his like again.

Has a horse won the Grand National and Scottish Grand National in the same year?

Has a horse won the Grand National and Scottish Grand National in the same year? Notwithstanding the change of date in 2022, made to accommodate Easter, on April 17, the Scottish Grand National, run over 3 miles, 7 furlongs and 176 yards at Ayr, is traditionally staged a week or two after the Grand National at Aintree. Consequently, few horses attempt the Aintree-Ayr double and those that do have precious little recovery time between the two races.

However, one horse has won the Grand National and the Scottish Grand National in the same season. That horse was, of course, the incomparable Red Rum, who did so in 1974. That year, the Grand National fell on March 30 and the Scottish Grand National on April 20, fully three weeks later.

At Aintree, Red Rum was sent off 11/1 third favourite to become the first horse since Reynoldstown, in 1936, to win back-to-back renewals of the Grand National. Despite top weight of 12st 0lb, he did so in style, drawing clear in the closing stages to beat L’Escargot by 7 lengths, eased down.

Despite misgivings from various quarters, including jockey Brian Fletcher, trainer Donald ‘Ginger’ McCain sent Red Rum to Ayr where, under a 6lb penalty, he was saddled with 113st 13lb. The rest, as they say, is history; under a patient ride, Red Rum jumped upsides the leader, Proud Tarquin, three fences from home, led over the final fence and readily asserted on the run-in to win by 4 lengths.

Fast Forwarding to 2024 and can history repeat itself? In 2023 Kitty’s light won both the Scottish Grand National and the Gold Cup, an impressive double. This year though the thoroughbred is around 12-1 with horse racing betting sites to win the Grand National and similar odds with bookmakers to win the Scottish Grand National too. Now that would be a nice double to have come up and I’m sure some punters will be temped to put a few quid on just that outcome!

Why don’t fillies run in the Derby?

The Derby, or the Derby Stakes, to give the race its full title, is run over a left-handed, undulating mile and a half at Epsom Downs in Surrey, South East England on the first Saturday in June. The race is open to three-year-old colts and fillies, with the latter receiving a 3lb weight allowance from their male counterparts. Despite that significant advantage, which effectively equates to a two-length ‘head start’ over the Derby distance, modern trainers are loath to pitch their fillies in against the colts.

Historically, six fillies have won the Derby, but none has done so since 1916 and none has even attempted to do so since Cape Verdi finished unplaced, as favourite, in 1998. Of course, colts are, on the whole, physically bigger and stronger than fillies, such that it takes an exceptional middle-distance filly to beat male opposition on the track, especially at the highest level. Fillies also have the option of running in their own Classic, the Oaks, which is run over the same course and distance as the Derby on the previous day. The Oaks is restricted exclusively to fillies, who compete at level weights and, despite offering far less guaranteed prize money than the Derby – £548,450 compared with £1,561,950 in 2023 – is evidently the preferred option for contemporary trainers.

Of course, in the racing industry, prize money is not the be-all and end-all, especially for powerhouse breeding operations, such as Coolmore, Godolphin and Juddmonte. A Derby-winning broodmare is all very well, but a Derby-winning stallion – who can cover hundreds of mares a year, as opposed to producing just a single foal – is an altogether different proposition, economically. The last Derby winner to be retired to stud, Masar, who is from the family of Sea The Stars, stands at the Dalham Hall Stud in Newmarket for a relatively modest £14,000 per offspring, but Sea The Stars himself stands at Gilltown Stud in Kilcullen, Co. Kildare for an eye-watering €180,000 a time.

1 2 3 … 138