Timeform reaction to the best weekend performances including Vadeni and Free Wind

Vadeni (127p from 125p)

The way in which Saturday's Coral-Eclipse was run put a premium on speed rather than stamina and it was Vadeni who found the best turn of foot from the back of the field to gain a second Group One success, ultimately getting the verdict by a neck from Mishriff, just ahead of Native Trail and Lord North who were also beaten less than a length in third and fourth, respectively.

Timeform’s full report on the Eclipse can be found here, but it’s worth putting Vadeni’s new rating of 127p into some context, both historically and with a view to the other big middle-distance races later in the year.

Three-year-olds have now won five of the last seven editions of the Eclipse for which they were eligible and, in terms of ratings, Vadeni falls bang in the middle of those five winners. Whilst he didn’t produce a performance so good as Golden Horn (134 in 2015) and St Mark’s Basilica (132 in 2021), he did at least achieve more in victory than Hawkbill (125 in 2016) and Roaring Lion (125 in 2018).

As for the rest of his three-year-old campaign, Vadeni now has races like the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown and Champion Stakes at Ascot on his agenda, both Group One events won by the same stable’s Almanzor in 2016.

Almanzor ended that season with a rating of 133 and Vadeni might need to scale similar heights to add to his Group One tally, particularly if coming up against the likes of Baaeed (134) and Desert Crown (130p) somewhere down the line.

Checkandchallenge (121p from 113p)

Saturday's Coral Challenge at Sandown was run at no more than a fair gallop, but it still looks form to view positively. The winner Sinjaari confirmed himself as good as ever, whilst the three-year-old runner-up Checkandchallenge put up one of the handicap performances of the season in defeat.

A slow start immediately put Checkandchallenge on the back foot and it was testament to his considerable talent that he was still beaten less than a length from a lofty BHA mark of 108, staying on strongly from two furlongs out but simply having too much to do to get on terms with Sinjaari.

Checkandchallenge certainly shaped well after nine weeks off and he emerged as the best horse at the weights when sectional uplifts are taken into account. This performance marks him out as one who wouldn't look out of place back in Group One company and very much a banker to pick up lesser pattern races.

Incidentally, only two horses have produced an effort of similar merit in handicaps run in Britain this year, namely Trueshan (130), who won the Northumberland Plate from a BHA mark of 120, and Rohaan (121), who defied a BHA mark of 109 when winning the Wokingham for the second year in a row.

Alpinista (remains on 121)

Alpinista went unbeaten in five starts in 2021, notably winning three Group One races in Germany and even inflicting a defeat on the subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso when landing the Grosser Preis von Berlin at Hoppegarten in August.

After being forced to miss her intended reappearance in the Coronation Cup, Alpinista made her belated return to action in Sunday's Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud, a race for which the betting was headed by last year's Irish Derby and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane.

In the event, however, Hurricane Lane was well below form for the second start in succession and Alpinista didn't need to improve to extend her winning sequence to six. Ridden more patiently than last year, she had to switch wide entering the straight but made good progress soon after, hitting the front under pressure inside the final furlong and keeping going well from there to beat Baratti by over a length.

The Prix Vermeille is reportedly next on the agenda for Alpinista, with all roads seemingly leading to the Arc. Of course, it goes without saying that the Arc will demand more, a race in which she could again meet Torquator Tasso, who got back on track with a smooth victory in a Group Two at Hamburg on Saturday.

Free Wind (remains on 119p)

Free Wind was very progressive as a three-year-old and she overcame not just a 10-month absence but also major interference – the cause of which is firmly up for debate – to win Saturday's Lancashire Oaks at Haydock in the manner of a very good horse indeed.

Having chased the leaders Free Wind went for a gap on the inner of Eshaada over two furlongs out but soon ran out of room and was very badly hampered. Even a conservative view would suggest she lost three and a half lengths, not to mention significant momentum, yet she still won readily, quickening past Sea la Rosa (who'd stolen a march while the favourites had knocked each other sideways) in the final 100 yards, all under hands and heels and going away at the line.

The way Free Wind got going again after almost going through the rails shows without much doubt that she's a Group One performer, completing her recovery while the pace was still increasing, too, quite remarkable for a filly who'd shown the stamina to win the Park Hill by a wide margin as a three-year-old.

With further progress on the cards, Free Wind is sure to provide stiff opposition to even the pick of the three-year-old fillies in the Yorkshire Oaks.

Coltrane (118+ from 108)

Friday's Coral Marathon at Sandown proved a much more one-sided affair than it looked beforehand, the favourite Coltrane finding plenty of improvement up in grade, relatively lightly raced for his age and only now fully coming to himself.

Held up in the early stages, Coltrane travelled well and the result was never really in any doubt as he made good headway to lead entering the final two furlongs, steadily drawing clear from there to land the spoils by 10 lengths in impressive fashion.

Admittedly, he was suited by the way things panned out in a race run at a strong gallop and it's likely that nothing else was quite at their best, but there was still a lot to like about the way he went about things.

Coltrane has an option under a penalty in a handicap at Newmarket next week, but a run in the Goodwood Cup seems more likely. He will need to progress further to make an impact at that level, thriving as he is at present.

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