Nic Doggett details the main movers from Epsom - including a special handicap performance - in the latest Timeform Ratings Update.
Striking Sallaal bound for better things
I’ll get to the Betfred-sponsored Oaks and Derby in due course, both of which featured clear career-best efforts by emphatic winners, but let’s begin with the performance of Sallaal (Timeform master rating now 124) whose 6.5-length win in Friday’s Betfred "Nifty 50" Handicap was the sixth-best handicap performance this century on Timeform ratings.
He is finally fulfilling his potential and beginning to live up to his fine pedigree, ridden with less restraint than his most eye-catching return in the City & Suburban over C&D and turning an ultra-competitive affair into a rout as a result.
A grand type physically who's out of a Group 1 winner and a half-brother to two more, he's one to follow into pattern company and could well reach the same level as his relatives by as soon as the autumn.
Sub-12 second final furlong marks Oaks winner out as special
Later that afternoon in the Betfred Oaks, Thundering On (now 124p) found loads more improvement for a further step up in trip, confidently ridden under a much more patient ride, and is evidently blossoming into a high-class filly.
Her performance was one of the best in the race this century, and her ability to handle softer ground marks her down as an obvious candidate for the Arc; posting a sub-12 second final furlong at the end of a truly-run Oaks on good to soft marks her down as potentially very special indeed and suggests there could well be further progress to come.
Runner-up Legacy Link (up to 118) progressed again from her Musidora win, running to a level good enough to have won several recent editions of the Oaks, seeing out the longer trip as her pedigree suggested she would. She may yet do a bit better, like the winner just five runs into her career, but it's hard to see her reversing the form with Thundering On should they meet again.
Of the rest, the fourth A La Prochaine (up 5 lb to 107p) acquitted herself as well as could be expected on just her third start, seeing the longer trip out well despite struggling to get to grips with the track in the straight; she's still raw and is open to further improvement, particularly on a more galloping track.
Favourite Amelia Earhart (110) having looked so good at Chester, was a big let-down, in nothing like the same form in a race back on softer ground run very differently to that contest. She obviously didn't give her running and may well get the chance to bounce back in the Irish Oaks next month.
Stamina test plays to Christmas Day's strengths
On Saturday it was the first time since 2017 that none of the Derby field had a pre-race Timeform rating higher than 118p, but it looked a potentially good race on paper, six of the field having won a recognised trial this spring, including Benvenuto Cellini who, having finished only tenth, was controversially declared a non-runner by the stewards having had a hind leg on the running board of the stalls at the start.
Rain throughout the afternoon meant that this was the first soft-ground Derby this century and it was those with stamina-laden pedigrees who shone, three of the field sired by a Derby winner and all three also out of mares themselves by a Derby winner, two of that trio finishing first and second in a time more than three and a half seconds slower than any previous running this century.
Christmas Day (123p from 112p) wasted no time in showing that the Dante wasn't a true reflection of him and, having beaten a couple of the main contenders as well as last weekend's luckless French Derby fourth A Boy Named Susie in the Ballysax prior to that, stamped not just his ability but his staying power all over this.
Whether he takes the stable's traditional route of heading to the Irish Derby remains to be seen given this was a more gruelling Derby than the norm, but either way he'll surely have Doncaster in September on his agenda, and he's capable of better still when his apparently abundant stamina is tested even more.
Runner-up Maltese Cross (now 119p), one of a pair who stood out in the paddock though sweating up by the time he got to the start, continued his path of run-to-run improvement, running a cracker behind one who might well have handled this ground slightly more naturally. In contrast, James J Braddock (up 4 lb to 115p) was coltish beforehand and is open to further improvement as he matures.
Incidentally, the other paddock pick was eventual seventh Pierre Bonnard (111). He was well supported with the ground turning soft but surprisingly failed to convince with his stamina having looked one of the more likely to improve for the trip beforehand (being, like the first and second, by a Derby winner out of a mare by a Derby winner).
Wide-margin Coronation Cup hero on a roll
The other middle-distance Group 1 on Saturday resulted in a romp for Bay City Roller (remains on 123) who came into the race in good heart and took advantage of others not being on their game, probably not having to improve significantly to score as he did, finding the conditions right up his street. Given his effectiveness on the ground, a campaign working back from the Arc would seem likely.
Runner-up Jan Brueghel (106) was not at the top of his game this time, going with little zest and taking second rather by default; he holds an entry in the Gold Cup, yet to try 2m+ and likely to be suited by it, having won the St Leger in his younger days.
Connections’ fears about the ground for Calandagan (still 133) were well-founded, though he has been such a consistent performer since he arrived at the highest level, that for him to turn in such a poor performance was still quite a shock. The Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and then back for the King George might well be the plan now.
More on Benvenuto Cellini non-runner decision
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