Master Of The Seas is now Timeform's highest-rated two-year-old this season after his Superlative Stakes win. Check out their Newmarket review.
Master of The Seas earned the highest-rating awarded to a two-year-old so far this season when winning the Superlative Stakes by three lengths at Newmarket on Saturday, improving his rating to 110p from 86p.
He had run to a fairly useful level when making a successful debut, conceding experience to the runner-up (who won his next start), but the effort he produced to maintain his unbeaten record in the Superlative represented a significant step forward. The most impressive aspect of his performance was how strong he was at the finish, forging clear on the uphill climb to the line to put some useful rivals to the sword in decisive fashion and in an excellent time.
His rating of 110p places him 1 lb ahead of Tactical (109p), who built on his encouraging win in the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot to follow up in Thursday’s July Stakes, with both horses surpassing the standard that had previously been set amongst the colts by The Lir Jet (108p), the winner of the Norfolk Stakes at the Royal meeting.
Master of The Seas now looks likely to head to the National Stakes at the Curragh, in which he will be attempting to provide Charlie Appleby and Godolphin with a third win in succession in the race after Quorto (2018) and Pinatubo (2019). He will go there as a strong contender, with the potential there for him to do much better.
As for Tactical, we are likely to see him next in the Prix Morny in Deauville, which has been dominated by British-based trainers in recent years. Both Tactical and The Lir Jet would appear to hold sound claims this time, though it’s worth pointing out that Campanelle (109), the Wesley Ward-trained winner of the Queen Mary, would come out on top on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings, getting 3 lb from each of the males in opposition.
Oxted posted the other headline performance at Newmarket on Saturday, continuing his ascent through the ranks by winning the July Cup by over a length, in the process providing trainer Roger Teal and jockey Cieren Fallon with a first success at the highest level.
There wasn’t much to separate the top four on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings before the race, and, with that quartet filling the next few places behind Oxted, it’s fair to say that the form has a very solid look to it. That positive view is reinforced by Oxted’s new rating of 126, which is well up to standard for a winner of the July Cup and identifies him as the clear pick of the current crop of six-furlong sprinters.
He also has the option of dropping back to five for the Nunthorpe Stakes at York, though a good deal more would be needed to lower the colours of Battaash, who remains Timeform’s highest-rated horse in training on 136 after his record-breaking display on the Knavesmire last season.
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