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Lankan Rupee showed a glimpse of his best through a frustrating season when taking out the Group 1 Black Caviar Lightning Stakes at Flemington.
Expectations were high for Lankan Rupee after a breakout season in 2013/14 where he became the first horse to claim the Oakleigh Plate – Newmarket Handicap – T J Smith Stakes treble.
What followed in season 2014/15 were campaigns where throughout the son of Redoute’s Choice endured niggling issues such as a quartercrack, an inflamed pectoral muscle and bone bruising.
Regardless, Lankan Rupee still added a pair of Group 1’s to his already burgeoning stakes record.
After a brave Manikato Stakes success in the spring, Lankan Rupee produced a scintillating display in the 2015 Black Caviar Lightning (1000m) down the Flemington Straight during the autumn.
The performance was impressive enough to result in the five-year-old sitting atop of the Timeform Ranking Charts for five-year-olds and older.
Lankan Rupee sizzled down the Flemington straight and after stalking Deep Field throughout, levelled up with him at the 200m and rapidly drew clear, quickly putting three lengths on his rivals over the final furlong.
Boasting a master Timeform rating of 132 for his 2014 T J Smith Stakes victory, Lankan Rupee fell just short of this mark in the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes, running to 130p.
Equal second on the Timeform Ranking Charts for the older horses is another of Australia’s top sprinters for the season in Terravista.
The Joe Pride-trained Terravista was superb through his 2014 spring campaign winning the Show County Quality (1200m) and The Shorts (1100m) each at Randwick before a luckless fifth in the Manikato Stakes (1200m) behind Lankan Rupee.
A fortnight later Terravista ran to 128 when claiming the Group 1 Darley Classic down Flemington’s Straight Six.
Alongside Terravista in equal second is Melbourne Cup winner Protectionist.
After Admire Rakti won the Caulfield Cup and Adelaide claimed the Cox Plate, Protectionist went about posting a clean sweep of Australia’s spring majors by overseas-trained runners.
Protectionist, now partly owned in Australian interests, came to Australia as a relatively unexposed stayer with four wins from just eight starts.
Significant amongst them was the Prix Kergorlay, a race used successfully in the past as a stepping stone to Melbourne Cup success.
The Kergorlay was used by both Dunaden and Americain as part of their lead up campaigns in their 2010 and 2011 Cup wins respectively.
In assessing the merit of Protectionist’s four length win, several facets were examined including, but not limited to, historical standardisation, pre-race Timeform rating profiles of contributing runners, weight carried and overall race time.
The Timeform ratings profiles of contributing runners suggested a final Timeform figure of 128 for Protectionist – a rise of five pounds on his Herbert Power run.
Sharing fourth in the Timeform Ranking Charts for five-year-old horses and older were Japanese Raider Admire Rakti and the Chris Waller-trained Sacred Falls.
Admire Rakti was impressive in the Caulfield Cup (2400m), settling back before overcoming a wide run and slow early tempo to post a relatively soft win returning a Timeform rating of 127.
In the process, Admire Rakti became just the fifth horse in 50 years to carry 58kg or more to Caulfield Cup victory.
Admire Rakti went into the Melbourne Cup as favourite off his resounding Caulfield Cup win however failed to beat a runner home, officially finishing 73.5 lengths behind winner Protectionist.
The son of Heart’s Cry sadly suffered a heart attack on returning to his raceday stall.
Alongside Admire Rakti, Sacred Falls reached a Timeform rating of 127 in season 2014/15.
The son of O’Reilly ran to this figure when confirming himself as king of the Randwick Mile in the Group 1 George Main Stakes on September.
Already a dual winner of the Doncaster Mile, the George Main Stakes was Sacred Falls’ first victory at weight-for-age level having bravely chased Dundeel home for second in the 2014 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
A seven way tie for equal sixth rounds out the Timeform Ranking Charts for the best performed runners aged five-years-old and beyond.
Contributer is the only one of these six who boasts a 124p figure by concluding his autumn campaign with a dominant success in the Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill.
The High Chaparral entire the start prior gave trainer John O’Shea his first Group 1 success since commencing as Head Trainer of Godolphin when claiming the Chipping Norton Stakes (1600m) at Warwick Farm on February 28.
Poised to make his mark in the lucrative Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on April 11, Contributer was sadly scratched on the eve of the race after he was found to be lame in the off-foreleg.
Real Impact was the other galloper who moved to equal sixth on the 5YO+ Timeform Ranking Chart in the autumn for his second in the Doncaster Mile to Kermadec.
The Japanese veteran enjoyed his moment in the sun a fortnight earlier however when taking out the Group 1 George Ryder Stakes (1500m) at his Australian debut assessed at 123.
The remaining quintet produced their 124 performances during the spring.
Fawkner ran to the figure twice when winning the Caulfield Stakes (2000m) and finishing second in the Cox Plate behind Adelaide.
Happy Trails, He’s Your Man and the UK-based Farraaj each ran to the figure when finishing first, second and third respectively in the Group 1 Mackinnon Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on November 1.
Buffering is the only sprinter amongst the seven older gallopers with a rating of 124 in Australia this season.
The veteran sprinter struck early in the 2014 spring, defeating Lankan Rupee and Rebel Dane to claim the A.J Moir Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley on September 26.
He will return to Moonee Valley in spring 2015 looking to defend the A.J Moir Stakes (1200m) after Rob Heathcote’s stable star missed the Queensland Winter Carnival due to a wrenched fetlock sustained at trackwork in March.