3 minute read

We look back at the four Group Ones from Sha Tin and how they stack up.

Vase - Giavellotto

Giavellotto burst through under Oisin Murphy to take the Hong Kong Vase and run to a RAS rating of 123. The pace wasn't strong here and he simply had the best turn of foot over Dubai Honour, who's best performances in Australia also came off slow tempos.

Giavelotto held a previous peak of 125 when winning the Prince Of Wales's Stakes at Newmarket but this is his second best performance, and one that matches the rating Junko ran last year.

Since 2010, Satono Crown holds the call at 128 for Vase winners, ahead of Glory Vase (127, 125), Highland Reel (125 x 2) and Mastery (125).

Sprint – Ka Ying Rising

The horse many were keenest to see on Sunday got the job done, but didn't exactly put up the rating and performance he promised.He's run to 124 on the RAS scale, down from his rating of 128 prior in track record time, matching his winning rating from the Group 2 Premier Bowl prior, although the sectionals and weights there to me suggest that performance was a bit better than this.

That said, for Ka Ying Rising to put up his worst performance in his past three starts and still win a Group One is pretty scary, and a rating of 124 is still very good considering Bella Nipotina won The Everest in a rating of 123.

People suggested the win had more merit given he did all the work up front and while it's true he had pressure inside and out, the sectionals show he was actually ridden very efficiently, a factor far more quantifiable than pressure from other horses.

Is he still a 130+ sprinting monster? Time will tell. The right side of his ratings distribution got a little bit smaller, but I'd say he's still a very good each-way hope of hitting the 130 mark in his career.

Helios Express was excellent in second with strong splits- nothing to say he should've beaten the winner but he's run to a clear new peak of 122 himself. I'm not sure what he'd run in next but I hope it's at 1400m.

A 124 rating for the Hong Kong Sprint is right on the median winning rating, sitting alongside the likes of Aerovelocity, Peniaphobia and Mr Stunning. It's slightly ahead of recent sprinters Lucky Sweynesse (122) and Wellington (121), but a long way off Japanese monster Lord Kanaloa, his 135 in 2013 one of the best sprinting performances the world has ever seen while previous track record holder Sacred Kingdom went 131 in 2007.

Mile – Voyage Bubble

Voyage Bubble was heavily supported and given a near-perfect ride by James Mcdonald to take the Hong Kong Mile, running to a RAS rating of 126, a new career peak for him.

He'd run to 124 winning the lead up and his ability to take up a position probably won him the race here. He'd beaten a fair few of these at Group 1 level prior in the Steward's Cup with a rating of 124, this time holding off the fast finishing Soul Rush, who was coming off a 126 rating win in Japan but dipped slightly here to 122.

126 is a pretty strong rating for a Hong Kong Mile. It sits alongside Good Ba Ba who ran to 126 in both of his wins in the race, only bettered by Able Friend (130), Beauty Generation (129) and Golden Sixty (128). That's an outstanding trio and to be rated within a few pounds of those, albeit off one performance, is good going.

For what it's worth, Mr Brightside is rated 125 so it'll be very interesting to see how he goes if he does indeed head to Hong Kong next year, where he'd likely clash with Voyage Bubble.

Cup – Romantic Warrior

Saved the best until last because Romantic Warrior affirmed his spot as, in my eyes, the best horse in the world on body of work, and he's put up a performance here that helps boost that claim.

Previously rated to a peak of 126, but having run to a rating of 124 or higher on eight occasions, he's bettered those ratings with a new career peak of 128, largely owing to the fact that he's beaten better horses here.

Liberty Island holds a peak RAS rating of 127, achieved when second to the 135 rated Equinox in the Japan Cup, and she isn't far off that rating here, running to 125.

She'd been well below her best in the Tenno Sho but had started favourite there with an expected RAS rating of 124 so it's good to see her get back to something like her best, but it still wasn't enough to beat the champ.

This wasn't strongly run with the first two finishing full of running and while Liberty Island was very fast home, Romantic Warrior did it very easily and probably could've gone slightly better if J-Mac really went full throttle.

In terms of Hong Kong Cup winners on the RAS scale, this is the second best performance we've seen, only bettered by Falbrav at 129 in 2003, although it's worth noting Timeform also have Maurice (132) ahead, and A Shin Hikari equal at 128.

Three Hong Kong Cups for Romantic Warrior, a Cox Plate, a Yasuda Kinen and plenty more feature wins at home and now the most prize money by any horse in history, eclipsing Golden Sixty, he's got an all-time CV, and Danny Shum is on a mission to make it even better.

He now likely goes to Dubai for the Group 1 Jebel Hatta (1800m) on turf, which has taken RAS ratings between 116-124 to win, Measured Time's 123 this year the second-highest rating in the history of the race.

That almost seems like a formality, and then things get very interesting with possible dirt tilts in the Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup.

The Group 1 Saudi Cup (1800m) last year was won by Japanese frontrunner Panthalassa in a RAS rating of 122 with Emblem Road (121) and Mishriff (128) winning prior. Mishriff's 128 is very strong, but Dubai gets even stronger.

Arrogate at a whopping 135 holds the call in the Dubai World Cup in 2017 while Laurel River ran to 130 earlier this year and could be back in 2025.

Going back even further, Dubai Millenium ran one of the highest Timeform ratings ever seen, going to 140 in 2000. In fact, the lowest Dubai World Cup winning rating is 123, with eight winners running 130 or better since that time.

If Romantic Warrior goes undefeated through the middle east, I'd be confident in saying he boasts the best CV of any horse in history.