Tony McFadden provides the Timeform ratings reaction following Arc weekend, including Daryz's victory in the main event.
Daryz (131 from 122p)
Daryz's victory in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp has been rated as the best performance in Europe this season by Timeform.
In inflicting a first defeat this season on Minnie Hauk, with the pair well clear of the remainder, Daryz passed the benchmark for top-class form - a Timeform rating of 130.
Timeform's European rankings had previously been headed by Ombudsman and Field of Gold on 130. Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Rising remains Timeform's highest-rated horse in the world on 135.
It's also notable that Daryz has been rated as the best Arc winner since Waldgeist earned a figure of 132 when denying Enable a hat-trick in 2019. Minnie Hauk, who finished five and a half lengths ahead of third-placed Sosie, improved her Timeform rating to 127 (from 124p) and is rated higher than the last two female winners of the race. For comparison, last year's winner, Bluestocking, achieved a rating of 123, while Alpinista was rated 126 in 2022.
Caballo de Mar (115 from 111)
Caballo de Mar had a Timeform rating of only 72 when entering handicaps last summer but, following a relentless rise through the ranks, that figure now stands at 115 following his Group 1 breakthrough in the Prix du Cadran at Longchamp on Saturday.
Caballo de Mar had shown improved form when winning the German St Leger at Dortmund a couple of weeks earlier and stepped up again in the Cadran, seeing the longer trip out thoroughly to beat proven stayer Coltrane by a length and three-quarters.
This was not a strong renewal of the Cadran, even after five horses were supplemented to take the field to a respectable eight, and the only time in the last decade the winner achieved a lower rating was in 2020 when the mare Princess Zoe claimed the honours. However, that takes nothing away from Caballo de Mar's achievement of winning a Group 1 having started out from such a lowly base.
Diamond Necklace (109p from 100P)
Diamond Necklace continued her theme of run-by-run improvement with a cosy victory in the Prix Marcel Boussac, again impressing with her turn of foot and leaving the impression that she's a leading classic contender for next year.
The winner's stablemate, Venosa, set no more than a fair pace and that failed to provide Diamond Necklace with the platform to post a big performance compared to past editions of the Prix Marcel Boussac - Opera Singer, for example, achieved a rating of 114 in 2023.
However, Diamond Necklace is still one of the highest-rated juvenile fillies we've seen so far this season, with only True Love (111), Precise (110) and Venetian Sun (110) rated higher, while the style of success suggests there's better to come under more conducive circumstances.
Puerto Rico (114 from 109)
Puerto Rico was beaten on his first five starts but seemingly showed much-improved form when stepped up in trip for the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster last month and backed up that smart victory with an even more emphatic win in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp.
Deploying the same front-running tactics that had been seen to such good effect at Doncaster, Puerto Rico quickened up well early in the straight and had matters under control a fair way out, ultimately scoring by two and a half lengths.
His performance has been rated 3 lb below what Rosallion achieved a couple of years ago but 2 lb higher than what subsequent French Derby winner Camille Pissarro earned last season. He's rated only 1 lb lower than this season's leading juvenile colts Zavateri and Gstaad.
Maranoa Charlie (123 from 118)
A big field went to post in the Prix de la Foret but very few threatened to land a blow on dominant front-runner Maranoa Charlie who improved on previous efforts to win in Group 1 company for the first time.
Maranoa Charlie, running without the hood he'd worn on previous starts this season, raced with zest at the head of affairs and quickened clear a couple of furlongs out, stealing a march on the confidently-ridden Zarigana who eroded the deficit to a length and a quarter at the line.
Maranoa Charlie was seen to good effect the way the race developed, but still deserves credit for an improved performance that has been rated up there with the best in the race since Limato posted a dominant victory in 2016. Should connections fancy a crack at the Breeders' Cup Mile, bidding to emulate Space Blues who did the double in 2021, it's unlikely Maranoa Charlie will have much to find on ratings unless Field of Gold runs. For context, Notable Speech is rated 124 and Rosallion 122.
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