Timeform highlight the top-rated, the big improver and one to note in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp on Sunday
The top-rated
Adayar (Timeform weight-adjusted rating: 142)
Adayar may have been a 16/1 shot in the Derby at Epsom but he was a decisive winner, putting up the best performance in the race since Golden Horn in 2015. Golden Horn famously won the Arc later in the same season and Adayar will be hoping to emulate him, albeit having followed an alternative path to Longchamp.
Adayar followed up his four-and-a-half-length success at Epsom with another emphatic victory at Ascot, putting up a top-class display to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes against his elders.
The winning distance was 'only' a length and three-quarters at Ascot but Adayar was well on top at the finish, despite being chased home by a top-class rival in Mishriff who bolted up in the Juddmonte International on his next start.
Adayar heads the Timeform ratings based on that Ascot effort and, as a strong stayer who is versatile regards ground conditions, he has plenty in his favour.
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The big improver
Hurricane Lane (135p)
Hurricane Lane is a three-time Group 1 winner, with his victories including a British and an Irish classic, but you still get the feeling that he could have more to offer.
Hurricane Lane has won six of his seven starts and it's not difficult to make excuses for his only defeat in the Derby at Epsom, where he looked unsuited by the track and also lost two shoes but was still by no means disgraced in third.
Things also didn't go smoothly for Hurricane Lane in the Irish Derby as he found himself further back than ideal in a race not run at a true tempo, but he produced a sustained surge in the straight to win by a neck, looking value for more than the margin of a neck.
Hurricane Lane was better positioned in the Grand Prix de Paris - contested over the same course and distance as the Arc - and he made the most of that advantage, registering a visually impressive six-length success. Those pieces of form meant that the stoutly-bred Hurricane Lane went into the St Leger with compelling claims, and he did not disappoint, justifying odds-on favouritism with ease and putting up one of the best performances in the race in recent years.
Hurricane Lane will need to raise his game again to become the first St Leger winner to follow up in the Arc, but he's been winning with plenty in hand and looks capable of a bigger effort.
One to note
Chrono Genesis (137)
The Japanese have endured a number of agonising losses in the Arc down the years, with none more memorable than Orfevre's defeat in 2012, when he looked to have the race at his mercy after sweeping into the lead over a furlong out only to lose focus close home.
Orfevre also had to settle for second the following season, when no match for the imperious Treve, and the Japanese challenge has not been so strong in subsequent years. However, they have a couple of big players this time around with Prix Foy winner Deep Bond and, more notably, Chrono Genesis.
Chrono Genesis has won four races at the highest level in Japan and has established herself as an extremely consistent and reliable mare.
She has been as good as ever during a light campaign revolving around the Arc this year, pushing Mishriff all the way in the Sheema Classic before showing a sparkling turn of foot to retain her Takarazuka Kinen crown, and she looks overpriced at double-figures.
Timeform's Analyst Verdict
Japan has had some famous near misses in the Arc but Chrono Genesis can take the prize back to the Far East for the first time in the 100th running. She was impressive when landing a fourth Group 1 in her home country in June, showing a striking turn of foot, and can emulate her sire Bago, who won this in 2004. Derby hero Adayar and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane are huge challengers for Britain.
Timeform weight-adjusted ratings
142 Adayar
137 Tarnawa
137 Chrono Genesis
136 Snowfall
135p Hurricane Lane
135 Deep Bond
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