Timeform Flat Awards 2024: The Champions

Even if Shadow of Light hadn’t been supplemented, and then won, the Dewhurst Stakes, he would have still been the season’s highest-rated two-year-old. He had achieved that by winning the Middle Park Stakes in authoritative fashion a fortnight earlier. But what his subsequent victory over the extra furlong of the Dewhurst did do was shift the focus of his three-year-old campaign, putting the 2000 Guineas on his agenda rather than simply continuing down the sprinting route.

Having landed the odds in a maiden at Yarmouth and a novice at Newmarket on his first two starts, Shadow of Light met with what turned out to be his only defeat of the season next time in the Gimcrack Stakes but improved again, finishing three quarters of a length second to Cool Hoof Luke. That made Shadow of Light the main danger to odds-on favourite Whistlejacket, the July Stakes and Prix Morny winner, in a six-runner field for the Middle Park Stakes which gave little clue beforehand that it would be the race which would crown the season’s top two-year-old. However, Shadow of Light showed much improved form on softer ground than at York, quickening clear once leading a furlong out to beat a below-form Whistlejacket by four lengths.

Unusually, the Dewhurst took less winning than the Middle Park, though it might well have been a different story if Aidan O’Brien’s Acomb Stakes winner The Lion In Winter (119p) hadn’t been a late absentee with a bruised foot, leaving Shadow of Light, a surprise addition to the field, as the clear pick on form. On soft ground, Shadow of Light proved a determined winner of a messy race, emerging best in a finish of necks with Expanded and Ancient Truth, both of whom raced on the opposite side of the track to the winner.

The more stoutly-bred The Lion In Winter, an excellent prospect, took his record to two out of two when beating subsequent Royal Lodge winner Wimbledon Hawkeye in the Acomb, while the latter was beaten nearly five lengths into third as Hotazhell (116) and Delacroix (116p) pulled clear in heavy ground in the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster, separated by just a nose.

Timeform Flat editor David Johnson said: “Although Shadow of Light achieved a rare feat by winning both the Dewhurst and Middle Park – he was only the second horse to complete the double since Diesis back in 1982, the level of form he showed in doing so is on the low-side historically and a rating of 120 is the lowest awarded to a champion juvenile colt by Timeform since the turn of the century. That said he showed a terrific attitude to pull the Dewhurst out of the fire, and that will stand him in good stead for the Guineas, but the feeling is that there could be a few later maturing types ready to raise their game by next spring.”

CHAMPION JUVENILE FILLY: LAKE VICTORIA (119p)

When Bedtime Story stormed clear to win the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot by nine and a half lengths, it looked at the time as though there’d be no need to look any further for the season’s top two-year-old filly. But Bedtime’s Story’s season fizzled out in the autumn with the Chesham form looking much more ordinary by then. Instead, it was another daughter of Frankel trained by Aidan O’Brien who developed into the best juvenile of her sex, Lake Victoria starting her career, as many of Ballydoyle’s top fillies have done in the past, in the maiden at the Curragh on the eve of the Irish Derby.

Making all for a ready success in the Sweet Solera Stakes at Newmarket next time, Lake Victoria then took her chance as her stable’s apparent second string to Bedtime Story in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, but, with the odds-on favourite losing her unbeaten record and finishing last of the five and reportedly lame, Lake Victoria improved again to become her trainer’s tenth winner of the race. Lake Victoria shaped as if she’d improve again over a mile, so it was all the more impressive that she produced her best effort all year dropped back to six furlongs next time for the Cheveley Park Stakes. Given a positive ride, Lake Victoria quickened clear entering the final furlong for an impressive three-length win over French filly Daylight, recording a faster time than Shadow of Light in the Middle Park later on the card and putting up the best performance by a Cheveley Park winner for ten years.

As a result, Lake Victoria stood out on form in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf on her final start at Del Mar where she didn’t need to show the same form to keep her unbeaten record upped to a mile, as expected, seeing the trip out well. That sets up a fascinating clash with Godolphin’s Desert Flower (117p) in the 1000 Guineas, she too unbeaten and herself an above-average winner of the Fillies’ Mile which she won impressively by five and a half lengths, following up victory in the May Hill at Doncaster. Babouche (113) didn’t give her running when only fourth in the Cheveley Park but had won her first three starts in Ireland, notably the Phoenix Stakes against male rivals headed by Whistlejacket.

DJ: “If the juvenile colts look a below average crop, then the opposite looks the case with the fillies with Lake Victoria narrowly getting the verdict over Desert Flower and a meeting between them in the Guineas next spring is something that will give Flat fans something to look forward to over the winter. Lake Victoria is unbeaten in five starts, including an unprecedented Group 1 hat-trick at 6f, 7f and 1m while Desert Flower is yet to face defeat in four outings with her Fillies’ Mile victory over the Guineas course and distance the best recorded in that race since the prolific Group 1 winner Minding.”

CHAMPION SPRINTER: BRADSELL (124)

For the second time in his career Bradsell was brought back from injury by his trainer Archie Watson to prove himself one of the speediest horses in training and, in the latest season, also the best sprinter in Europe despite a belated start to his campaign. A fractured tibia had curtailed his two-year-old season and it was a fractured fetlock, sustained preparing for Dubai early in the year, which delayed his return this year until August. That meant missing Royal Ascot where he’d been successful in the Coventry Stakes at two and the King’s Stand Stakes at three.

But less than three weeks before the next big five-furlong contest, the Nunthorpe, Bradsell returned from almost a year off to win a listed race at Deauville which set him up nicely to go two places better than the year before at York where the filly Believing, who wasn’t so well drawn, and subsequent Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint winner Starlust filled the places. Bradsell had a bit more to spare over Believing when they finished one-two again in the Flying Five Stakes at the Curragh, and while there was a head between the pair, again in Bradsell’s favour, in the Prix de l’Abbaye, the Flying Five third Makarova managed to turn the tables on both at Longchamp where Bradsell was encountering soft ground for the first time. Bradsell trailed home last behind Starlust at Del Mar on his final start before a stallion career at the National Stud but can easily be forgiven that after trying to take on the American favourite Cogburn.

Bradsell’s five-furlong form was slightly better than that of the leading six-furlong sprinters, with Mill Stream (122) recording a career-best in the July Cup and progressive three-year-old Kind of Blue (122) making up for a narrow defeat in the Sprint Cup by winning the British Champions Sprint Stakes at Ascot. Australian mare Asfoora (122) was only beaten a length into fourth behind Bradsell in the Nunthorpe, but in a four-race campaign in Britain ran her best races when winning the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot and finishing a short-head second conceding weight to Big Evs in the King George Stakes at Goodwood.

DJ: “Bradsell was something of a forgotten horse in the lead up to the Nunthorpe having not been seen in Britain since his third in the race the previous year but after his back-to-back victories in that contest and the Flying Five at the Curragh there was no danger of him slipping under the radar. A narrow defeat in the Abbaye when forced into going hard and an easy-to excuse defeat at the Breeders’ Cup take little gloss off his achievements and his form was of a higher standard than the 6f performers who took it in turn to beat each other.”

CHAMPION MILER: CHARYN (127)

Despite the presence of some high-class three-year-olds, it was Roger Varian’s much-improved four-year-old Charyn who takes top honours in the mile division. Charyn drew a blank from seven starts at three, when his best effort had come as a 33/1 shot behind Paddington and Chaldean in the St James’s Palace Stakes. But he had no trouble winning races in the latest season and was soon down to business, winning the listed Doncaster Mile on Lincoln day and following up in the Group 2 Mile at Sandown before keeping top company for the rest of the year.

Charyn finished well clear of the rest in a rather strange race for the Lockinge Stakes at Newbury where winner Audience managed to slip his field, but Charyn started favourite to turn the tables in the following month’s Queen Anne Stakes and duly gained a belated first Group 1 success. Charyn made his next two appearances in France, proving better than ever in the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, but in the Prix du Moulin at Longchamp he found himself in another race similar to the Lockinge, faring best of the rest behind Tribalist who held on in front after enjoying an easy lead. But he remained the one to beat back at Ascot in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and signed off in Europe with another authoritative win, finding extra when tackled to beat French gelding Facteur Cheval by two lengths. Charyn is due to make his final start in the Mile Championship in Japan later this month.

The 2000 Guineas threw up the two best three-year-old milers in Notable Speech (125) and Rosallion (126). Unraced at two, that was Notable Speech’s first start on turf after three wins at Kempton early in the year and his fine turn of foot was evident again in the Sussex Stakes. Further behind Charyn in the Moulin, Notable Speech fared better again when a close third in the Breeders’ Cup Mile. Rosallion was a length and a half behind Notable Speech in the Guineas but went one better in the Irish 2000 Guineas and followed up in the St James’s Palace Stakes where Notable Speech ran a lacklustre race but he missed the remainder of the season after a respiratory infection had kept him out of the Sussex Stakes.

DJ: “Charyn’s crowning as champion miler is a great example of the benefits of keeping horses in training and racing regularly. He came up short at Group 1 level on five occasions as a 3-y-o and even after gaining his first win at that level in the Queen Anne, few would have expected him to be rated higher than the 3-y-os Notable Speech and Rosallion. But wins in the second half of the season in the Jacques le Marois and QEII elevated him further. We can only speculate what Rosallion might have done had he been seen after Royal Ascot, but his neck victory over Henry Longfellow didn’t shine so brightly by the end of the season as it did in the immediate aftermath.”

CHAMPION MIDDLE-DISTANCE PERFORMER: CITY OF TROY (130p)

Last season’s Leading two-year-old City of Troy trained on to retain his position as the best of his generation at three as well, also earning the Horse of The Year Award. After losing his unbeaten record when trailing home at odds on in the 2000 Guineas, City of Troy soon put that behind him when a convincing winner of the Derby by two and three quarter lengths from the Lingfield Derby Trial winner Ambiente Friendly. City of Troy was less convincing when having to work hard in taxing conditions to land very short odds in the Eclipse at Sandown but on much firmer ground made all in a much more competitive Juddmonte International at York which proved the Race of The Year (see below). City of Troy’s career ended in anti-climax, failing to take to the dirt in a much-anticipated bid to become Aidan O’Brien’s first winner of the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but that didn’t detract from his earlier achievements on turf.

Fellow three-year-old Calandagan (129) ran an excellent race to finish just a length behind City of Troy in the Juddmonte International. As a gelding, options at the top level in France for him were limited after a couple of Group 3 wins at Longchamp in the spring. But he won the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths and wasn’t discredited back at the same track in a messy edition of the Champion Stakes when beaten half a length by outsider Anmaat.

As well as Calandagan, trainer Francis-Henri Graffard did well with the much-improved year-older gelding Goliath (128). He ran well to finish second in the Hardwicke Stakes but took another big step forward to go one better at odds of 25/1 in the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, running out an impressive winner from Bluestocking and Rebel Romance, winners of the Arc and Breeders’ Cup Turf in the autumn. Goliath’s own big end-of-year target is the Japan Cup following a successful prep race in Group 2 company at Longchamp.

Last year’s Derby third White Birch (128) missed much of the season but not before he too returned a much-improved performer in the spring, completing a hat-trick at the Curragh when readily beating Auguste Rodin in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.

DJ: “While City of Troy’s ranking among Aidan O’Brien’s best horses looks sure to continue to provide lively debate, few will disagree that City of Troy deservedly sits at the top of the rankings of Timeform’s middle distance horses in 2024. His rating of 130p is the highest of any horse trained in Europe as he became the first horse since Sea The Stars to follow up his Derby win in the Eclipse and Juddmonte International.

“While his reputation at home arguably outweighed what he showed on the track, he retires to stud at the end of his 3-y-o season with the feeling that he could perhaps have raised his game further granted more suitable opportunities.”

CHAMPION STAYER: KYPRIOS (125)

None of the Timeform Award winners deserves the ‘champion’ title quite so much as top stayer Kyprios. There might have been better horses around over other distances and he might not have had to show quite the same level of form as he did in 2022 but, just like then, he proved unbeatable in the staying division. That Kyprios returned as dominant this year is remarkable given the serious setback he’d overcome early in 2023. An injury to his fetlock joint became badly infected and even life-threatening according to his trainer, so it was understandable that Kyprios wasn’t quite his invincible self in his two runs last autumn when runner-up in the Irish St Leger and Long Distance Cup.

But, fully recovered, his latest campaign was essentially a carbon copy of his unbeaten 2022 campaign. After straightforward warm-ups at Navan and Leopardstown in the spring, Kyprios regained his titles in the Gold Cup at Ascot, Goodwood Cup, Irish St Leger and Prix du Cadran. He then made it seven wins for the year when ending his season with victory in the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day for the first time. His Cadran win was his eighth at the top level, making him Aidan O’Brien’s most prolific Group 1 winner, and he may well add to that total as he’s being kept in training next year at the age of seven.

Kyprios wasn’t hard pressed in most of his wins but had to work harder in the Gold Cup which he won by a length after he and pacesetter Trawlerman (124) had engaged in a duel over the last two furlongs, pulling clear of the rest. It was Trawlerman who’d beaten Kyprios in the Long Distance Cup the previous autumn but was back in third in the latest renewal of that contest. The other leading stayer Giavellotto (122) came up against Kyprios when finishing third behind him in the Irish St Leger, though ran a better race earlier in the year when a clear-cut winner of the Yorkshire Cup, a race he’d also won in 2023. His best effort, though, came outside the staying division, earning a rating of 125, when readily following up over a mile and a half in the Princess of Wales’s Stakes.

DJ: “It’s arguable that ratings undersell the superiority of Kyprios and his domination of the staying division. When both were at their best in the Gold Cup, Kyprios had just a length to spare over Trawlerman but that doesn’t tell the full story as it was just one of seven victories for him during a perfect 2024, four of them at Group 1 level as well as the Long Distance Cup which is overdue upgrading to that level. The staying scene has been blessed with horses like Yeats and Stradivarius this century, lauded for their longevity as much as their ability and Kyprios deserves to be recognised in a similar light.”

CHAMPION FILLY/MARE: BLUESTOCKING (123)

Four-year-old Bluestocking continued the excellent recent record of fillies and mares in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, her victory being the tenth for a female since 2008 when Zarkava was successful. Trained by Ralph Beckett, she was a record seventh winner of the Arc in the Juddmonte colours of the late Khalid Abdullah, and while her form wasn’t on a par with their top-class dual winner in 2017/18 Enable, Bluestocking capped a fine season and career – she has been retired to stud – at Longchamp.

Smart at three when runner-up four times, including in the Irish Oaks and Fillies And Mares Stakes, Bluestocking soon proved herself an improved filly at four, following a clear-cut success in the Middleton Stakes at York with a first Group 1 win in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh. Back against male rivals, there was no disgrace in her second to Goliath in the King George or when representing the sponsors in the Juddmonte International where her fourth behind City of Troy came over a trip shorter than ideal in that sort of company. Back against her own sex over a mile and a half, Bluestocking was a game winner of the Prix Vermeille which prompted connections to supplement her for the Arc where her form gave her every chance in a very open renewal. Enjoying a perfect run from her low draw, she again proved too good for three-year-old filly Aventure (122) who’d chased her home in the Vermeille.

Ramatuelle (122) was another leading filly successful on Arc day, running much her best race when an impressive winner of the Prix de la Foret. Although third in the 1000 Guineas and Coronation Stakes beforehand, she would have been an interesting runner in the Breeders’ Cup Mile had she not failed a veterinary check beforehand. Tamfana (122) was an unlucky fourth in the Guineas, close behind Ramatuelle, and ran much her best race back over a mile at Newmarket in the autumn when beating the previous year’s winner Inspiral. Also rated 122 was the Australian mare Asfoora who was campaigned in Britain during the summer (her key performances are covered above in the Champion Sprinter category).

DJ: “Rather like Charyn among the milers, Bluestocking’s standing rose as the season wore on, transformed from the filly narrowly beaten in Group 1s as a 3-y-o to a major force in them by the end of the season with victories in the Pretty Polly and Prix Vermeille surpassed only by her triumph in the Arc.”

RACE OF THE YEAR: JUDDMONTE INTERNATIONAL (126)

The leading races of the year are judged on the average of the first three home based on their Timeform master rating. The Juddmonte International is consistently Britain’s top all-aged middle-distance contest and the latest renewal was Race of The Year (126) thanks in no small part to Horse of The Year City of Troy taking the record first prize of more than £700,000 ahead of French gelding Calandagan who was close behind in the ratings. A third three-year-old, Ghostwriter, also ran his best race of the season behind them in third, clear of some very smart older horses in the largest field for the race, 13, since it began life in 1972 as the Benson & Hedges Gold Cup.

The King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes was close behind on 125. While Goliath was a surprise winner on the day, he clearly relished the end-to-end gallop on the firmish ground, his much-improved effort making him the joint-best older horse (along with White Birch) of the season. The form proved rock solid too, with runner-up Bluestocking going on to win the Arc and the third Rebel Romance winning the Breeders’ Cup Turf for a second time.

The Gold Cup (124), in which the season’s two best stayers Kyprios and Trawlerman, fought out the finish clear of Sweet William, himself winner of the Henry II Stakes and Doncaster Cup, was tied for third with the Coral-Eclipse. As in the following month’s Juddmonte International, City of Troy and Ghostwriter were first and third at Sandown, split by very smart four-year-old Al Riffa who showed similar form when winning a Group 1 in Germany on his next start.

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