Timeform's Graeme North reflects on the latest action from a timefigure perspective and he was impressed with Raaheeb.
Opera hits the high notes
Ten Flat meetings spread across Britain and Ireland last Saturday and Sunday is a stark reminder that the relentless spring/summer period is now upon us, but the real fireworks start next week when the three-day Guineas meeting will hopefully uncover a new star or two. Last year that star was supposed to be Field Of Gold who had won the Craven on his reappearance by three and a half lengths, and he did light up the summer briefly, notably when winning the St James’s Palace Stakes under new rider Colin Keane.
It’s fair to say some of the shine has been rubbed off Field Of Gold since then, reportedly lame after not handling the track particularly well in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood, being drawn on the ‘wrong side’ in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot when the first two came from the lowest stalls and now reportedly having bled from the nose after his latest defeat, when beaten three lengths by a favourite of this column, Opera Ballo, on his return in the Bet365 Mile at Sandown last week.
The pair met once last year in the Craven, where Opera Ballo started at 7/2 compared to Field of Gold’s 100/30 but ended up racing too keenly while the more experienced Field Of Gold settled well. Fitted with a hood in all his races since, Opera Ballo is much more the finished article nowadays, beaten only by Zeus Olympios in the Joel Stakes in that time, and he came into the Bet365 Mile with the advantage of a previous run this year having won the Group 1 Jebel Hatta at Meydan in January.
For all that race was a Group 1 in name only, it did mean that Opera Ballo had to concede 5lb to Field of Gold and 2lb to the also-reappearing Zeus Olympios. But given the mid-120 overall timeratings (timefigures plus sectional upgrades) he has regularly shown himself capable of before, it’s not surprising that he wasn’t for catching once allowed an uncontested lead. His winning timefigure was 118, just below the 119 he recorded in the Listed Sir Henry Cecil Stakes at Newmarket last year, while his overall timerating after a 6lb upgrade measured across each of the last three furlongs comes in at 124.
That’s still below the bare 127 Field Of Gold (who ran a faster penultimate furlong here before his effort flattened out late on) managed in the St James’ Palace last year but whether Field Of Gold is capable of quite that level of form now is open to question; we will no doubt find out in the Lockinge where Field Of Gold is currently third in the betting behind Notable Speech and, perhaps surprisingly, his stable-companion Damysus; Zeus Olympios (who was keen at Sandown) and Opera Ballo are next best but the latter is reported to be heading to Longchamp next for what used to be known as the Prix d’Ispahan.
Daryz looks better than ever
Mention of Longchamp reminds me that the first Group 1 of the season in France, the Prix Ganay, took place there last Sunday and was won easily by the returning 2025 Arc winner Daryz. On a day when four of the races were handicaps and one of the others was a Group race over 3000 metres, it’s no surprise he should have recorded the fastest last 600m of all the winners. But, all the same, a time 0.07 seconds faster for that section than the 2025 G3 Burj Nahar winner Fort Payne recorded over 1400m is not bad going and a suggestion he might well be a better horse than he was as a three-year-old when only his stablemate Calandagan showed better form.
The tactical speed he showed in a Ganay run at a dawdle on fast ground, looming up gorgeously before settling matters instantly from the racefit Prix Hocquart winner Bright Picture, will stand him in good stead in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June when other than Ombudsman it’s hard to see what might give him a race.
Raaheeb is the real deal
Back at Sandown, the Mile was one of three Group events with the others being the Gordon Richards Stakes and the Classic Trial, both over a mile and a quarter, while there was also an interesting novice for fillies over that trip and the always-informative Esher Cup Handicap over a mile.
The last-named was won by Laureate Crown in a time around 1.3 seconds slower than Opera Ballo, equating to a timefigure of 102, boosted to 109 when a 7lb upgrade across the final three furlongs is added on, slightly more than the other two placed horses achieved. He looked smart on his debut last year but was maybe thrown into pattern company too quickly by his trainer Hugo Palmer, but he might now be ready for the higher grades again now he’s been gelded.
Saddadd impressed in the paddock before the Gordon Richards and took his form to a new level, running to 121 in defeating last year’s Strensall winner King of Cities while posting a 109 timefigure that came with an 11lb upgrade courtesy of a faster last two furlongs than even Opera Ballo managed. His half-brother Almaqam is best at a mile and a quarter, and he may try and emulate him by winning the Brigadier Gerard Stakes here next month.
The Classic Trial went to the highly-touted Raaheeb, a brother to Baaeed and Hukum, in a timefigure of 108. Won by Westover in 2022 and Alenquer in 2021 when subsequent Derby winner Adayar was second, this year’s renewal looked one of the better recent runnings on paper and whether or not to head to Epsom is now the question for Raaheeb’s connections. A 108 timefigure boosted to 111 across the final three furlongs (or an even higher 113 if using just his last furlong) already puts him in the ballpark, and his trainer insists he is already further forward at the same stage of his career than Hukum.
The fillies' novice, which was won by Emily Upjohn in 2022, provided something of an upset with the Gosdens' odds-on favourite Sunshine Star finishing only sixth behind Felicitas who was maintaining her unbeaten record under a penalty after winning a minor event at Lingfield last December. A six-figure purchase as a yearling, she’d beaten Allaire (who’d gone on to finish six lengths second to I’m The One at Newbury at the Greenham meeting) on her debut but left that form well behind here, scoring in a 91 timefigure boosted to 98 by sectional upgrades.
She’s got a slow stride turnover (something Raaheeb hasn’t) hinting that she’ll have little trouble staying a mile and a half for all there’s little stamina in her pedigree and there’s every chance she’ll go close in one of the Oaks trials, perhaps Lingfield given she won on the all-weather there and they tend to take little winning these days.
Big performance from Manatee
There was an Oaks trial of sorts (Prix de Diane if post-race reports are to be believed) at Navan on Saturday where Thundering On took the Group 3 Salsabil Stakes for Joseph O’Brien who’d won the race the year before with subsequent Oaks fourth Wemightakedlongway.
All the same, there was more focus at the meeting on the pair of Listed races, the Committed Stakes and the Vintage Crop Stakes, which saw the respective reappearances of the Norfolk winner Charles Darwin and the St Leger winner Scandinavia. Both won though neither achieved much on the clock, Charles Darwin winning readily in 91 and Scandinavia well on top in 75, so I’m not sure we learned anything new about them other than that they have both come back in good order.
It will be interesting to see how Manatee Mehmas fares for the remainder of the season. For anyone unawares, he was sent off odds-on on his debut at Doncaster on Saturday despite the presence of a filly who’d already shown form good enough to win a maiden race comfortably, and he ran her down with great ease to win by three and a quarter lengths. A timefigure of 81 boosted by an upgrade that could be as high as 7lb using his final furlong sectional is not outstanding, but a performance rating of 99P certainly is for a three-year-old over five furlongs in novice company and four of the other ten horses who have run to a figure of 95 or higher at the trip in similar company have gone on to score at listed level at least.
Another of them, Rhythm N Hooves, won the Palace of Holyrood Handicap at Royal Ascot the same year, but of course Manatee Mehmas’s sire Mehmas is still waiting for his first Royal Ascot winner after seventy-six runners among whom only seven have finished in the first three.
Firm opinion at Sandown
The latest domestic jumps season on Saturday ended with victories for evergreen veteran Edwardstone in the Celebration Chase and Havaila in the feature Gold Cup on a day Dan Skelton secured his first trainers' title surpassing the £5 million mark in prize money earned. But the day wasn’t without contention on account of the very fast conditions which resulted in an abundance of non-runners.
That’s the ninth time since 2002 the card has been run on ground Timeform have called good to firm and, to put it into shaper context, is easily the fastest ground for the meeting since Timeform started returning timefigures over jumps in 2016; indeed, the going allowance suggested that conditions were around 30lb faster on both the hurdle and chase tracks than in 2025 when Timeform also called the ground good to firm. It wouldn’t have been controversial to have called it firm.
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