Tony McFadden uses Timeform ratings to provide an update on the pecking order in the sprint division.
125 Highfield Princess (filly)
Highfield Princess, a three-time Group 1 winner during a superb campaign last season, had to settle for minor honours in the King's Stand Stakes and Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot in June but she made the most of a drop in class in the King George Stakes at Goodwood last week, producing a high-class display to brush her rivals aside with ease.
Highfield Princess raced with her customary zest and looked as good as ever as she quickened three lengths clear, setting herself up nicely for a defence of her Nunthorpe crown at York later in the month.
As a filly, Highfield Princess receives a 3 lb sex allowance which can effectively be added to her rating, marking her out as the one to beat in the division.
125+ Shaquille
Shaquille has won his last six starts, including in Group 1 company the last twice, and given the trajectory he is tracking there is clearly a chance there's more to come, particularly if he can sort out his issues at the start and race more efficiently.
Shaquille reared and conceded at least five lengths at the start of the Commonwealth Cup but was still good enough to overcome that disadvantage, and he then showed even better form to win the July Cup despite again breaking slowly and then racing exuberantly and pulling his way to the front.
It's rare to see Group 1s won by horses breaking so slowly, while it's also out of the ordinary for sprinters to rack up so many wins on the bounce, especially if that sequence includes victories at Group 1 level. He's achieved more than a bare rating can suggest.
125 Bradsell
Last year's Coventry Stakes winner came up short on his first couple of starts at three, including when disappointing behind Little Big Bear in the Sandy Lane Stakes at Haydock, but he roared back in style in the King's Stand Stakes on his return to Royal Ascot.
That was Bradsell's first attempt at five furlongs and he took his form to a new level, deservedly keeping the race despite drifting to his right inside the final furlong and hampering Highfield Princess, who ran creditably without matching the pick of her form last season.
Bradsell remains relatively unexposed after only six starts, including just a single, successful outing over five furlongs.
123 Kinross
Kinross has spent much of his career competing over longer distances - he contested the 2000 Guineas in 2020 - but he has shown very smart form over sprint trips and notably won the Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot last season.
It was during last season that he really came of age, with his Champions Sprint Stakes success capping a brilliant four-timer that included another Group 1 success in the Prix de la Foret.
He hasn't quite matched that level in three starts this season but wasn't far below his best when third behind Shaquille in the July Cup or when winning the Lennox Stakes at Goodwood.
122 Little Big Bear
Little Big Bear put up the best performance by a juvenile last season when slamming his rivals by seven lengths in the Phoenix Stakes on what turned out to be his final start of the campaign.
Little Big Bear proved in a league of his own at the Curragh, registering the best performance rating in the race since George Washington scored in 2005, but he has failed to replicate that form this season, for all he produced smart efforts when winning the Sandy Lane and finishing runner-up to Shaquille in the Commonwealth Cup.
122 Manaccan
Manaccan won four times during a highly productive three-year-old campaign last season and showed very smart form when winning the Group 3 Mercury Stakes at Dundalk on his final start of the season, underling his status as a sprinter going places.
He was strictly below that level when third on his return in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket in May but he shaped with plenty of encouragement behind a couple of race-fit rivals who seemed at an advantage on the other side of the track.
He was among the leading fancies for the King's Stand Stakes - and he would have held sound claims on form - but a late setback ruled him out of Royal Ascot.
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