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French Group 1 placegetter more highly-rated than other Golden Eagle internationals.

Light Infantry booked his trip to Australia with a second placing in France at the weekend and Racing And Sports Ratings suggest he is the best hope yet of an international win in the Golden Eagle.

The son of Fast Company elevated his peak rating to 119 when he ran glamour filly Inspiral to a neck in the Group 1 Prix Jacques le Marois (1600m) at Deauville.

That is a rating that would have won two of the three editions of the Golden Eagle and a better pre-Eagle rating than was owned by of any of the Northern Hemisphere horses to run in the race.

French Group 1 winner Laws Of Indices, a luckless fifth placegetter in last year's Golden Eagle, came to Australia with a rating of 118.

Beat Le Bon was rated 116 prior to the 2019 edition, in which he ran sixth, last year's sixth placegetter Maximal arrived a 114-rater, while 2019 13th and 14th placegetters I Am Superman and Never No More were 109 and 113 respectively. Reve De Vol ran 11th last year as a 108-rater.

"Light Infantry can now claim to be a bit better than those horses, in fact, ratings suggest he might be the best traveller for a Golden Eagle that we have seen," Racing And Sports head of handicapping Adam Blencowe said.

"If Anamoe is going to the Cox Plate, it's a little bit thin that three-year-old group turned four and the Golden Eagle might be up for a horse who can come out of nowhere. Light Infantry would fit that bill."

The Prix Jacques le Marois was the Group 3-winning colt's fifth start and made it two French Group 1 second placings in a row following a 1-1/4-length second to Tenebrism in the Prix Jean Prat (1400m).

Converge, at 120, is the only Australian horse on a Golden Eagle path who owns a higher rating than the David Simcock-trained Light Infantry.

Illation is $8 equal favourite with Light Infantry in TAB's Golden eagle market and his top Racing And Sports Rating is 105 with a plus, which means it is expected he can go to a higher level, but Blencowe said that would need to be much greater to match it with Light Infantry.

"Illation hasn't run in a 94 seconds flat Jacques le Marois and run a place," Blencowe said of the unbeaten So You Think entire.

"He is a very nice prospect but he has no form like this."

Light Infantry is not the only potential Northern Hemisphere-trained visitor for the Golden Eagle with Charlie Appleby's Kingman gelding Noble Truth a chance to travel.

He finished a 4-1/2-length fourth in the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes (1408m) won by Light Infantry, but has since lifted his rating to 116 with wins in the Listed King Charles II Stakes (1408m) and Group 3 Jersey Stakes (1408m) at his past two starts.

Kolding's win in the inaugural edition is the highest-rating Golden Eagle, at 122, while I'm Thunderstruck went 118 last year with Colette winning at 113 in 2020.