Across the globe we were witness to some incredible displays that will live long in the memory and contributed to another fantastic season of flat racing.
As is now customary, my countdown of the ten performances that stood out most to me over the past season follow and as always my selections are based on a tried and tested method of form, visual impression and most importantly: bias.
The idea of the list if to highlight individual brilliance and horses that single-handedly stole the show so many of the pulsating Toronado-Dawn Approach clashes and a lot of the Breeders’ Cup action doesn’t make it in given that a lot of those races’ magic was down to more than one horse.
Controversial? Perhaps but these lists are meant to be personal and a good source of debate, so without further waffle from me here are my Top Ten Performances of the Flat Season 2013.
10. Sky Lantern – Coronation Stakes – Royal Ascot – 21.6.13
From a seemingly impossible draw Richard Hannon’s grey added another Group 1 to her 2000 Guineas win with a stylish victory in the Royal meeting’s Friday feature the Coronation Stakes.
Cruising in to contention down the outside of the field under Richard Hughes Sky Lantern drew right away from the large but deep field and was going further away from her pursuers with every stride.
After the colts’ equivalent of the race the St. James’s Palace had produced an unsatisfactory, albeit thrilling, result in some eyes given the scrimmaging that went on there was no doubt left in anyone’s mind after the Coronation that the best horse in the race had won.
9. Orb – Kentucky Derby – Churchill Downs – 4.5.13
Having impressed in his trials and caught the eye of the work watchers in the build up to the race, Orb was sent off favourite for the 2013 running of ‘the greatest two minutes in sport’.
Held up at the back of the field as the participants navigated the sloppy track, Orb circled the field on the turn and in a matter of strides went past most of the field, staying on strongly down the stretch past the early pace-setters.
With the track sloppy and having picked off very tired horses on the run in, some will point to it hardly having been a vintage Derby but many of the field have come out and won big races since and the manner in which Orb did it on the grandest stage of them all mark this out as a top performance and certainly one of the best of the season.
8. Verrazano – Haskell Invitational – Monmouth Park – 28.7.13
He may have disappointed somewhat on the biggest stages when well down the field in the Kentucky Derby and then not getting the job done at the Breeders’ Cup, but Verrazano justified the hype around him in some style when decimating the field in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at the end of July.
Taking up the lead from Preakness winner Oxbow as they rounded the turn Verrazano powered clear in the stretch in the most visually stunning way and won going away under Johnny Velasquez.
Big V’s official margin of victory for his demolition job in the Haskell was 9 ¾ lengths – a record for the race. It will almost certainly be some time until we see a performance in the race like that again, so although he may not have quite fulfilled his potential in some ways, Verrazano bowed out of this season having produced one of the performances of it or any other for that matter.
7. Dawn Approach – 2000 Guineas – Newmarket (Rowley Mile) – 4.5.13
Having been unbeaten champion two-year-old, many people – myself included – came in to this past season with high hopes for Dawn Approach.
Ultimately he may have felt the effects of a very hard season and bowed out with somewhat of a whimper, but on his three-year-old debut he produced a performance that surpassed what even his most ardent supporters were expecting.
In spite of it being the first classic of the season, a match had been expected between Dawn Approach and Toronado and with the tide turning very much in favour of Toronado in the build-up to the race it was the latter that many expected to prevail.
However that proved to be quite far removed from what actually happened. Racing alongside each other just off the pace, two furlongs out the match that had been expected was on, but as quickly as it began it was over as Dawn Approach forged clear up the hill to cross the line in splendid isolation five lengths clear of his nearest pursuer with his great rival fading back in to fourth.
With the Al Zarooni controversy still fresh it was an important win for Godolphin and though Toronado would have his revenge later in the season this remains for me at least the stand-out duel in their series of tussles and for that reason, though the form of the Sussex is clearly stronger, ranks as one of my performances of the season.
6. Treve – Prix Vermeille – Longchamp – 15.9.13
Having won the French Oaks in good style Treve was purchased by Sheikh Joaan Al-Thani and on Arc trials day at Longchamp she proved herself to have been a very worthwhile purchase indeed.
Arc trials day is always informative and has a big hand in shaping the markets for the big day and the 2013 meeting was no different. Orfevre cemented his standing at the head of affairs with a facile victory on the card but it was Treve that made most people stand up and take notice with a scintillating performance that was a glorious foreshadowing of what was to come on the big day.
Ridden for the first time by newly retained jockey Frankie Dettori, Treve was in her customary hold-up spot at the rear end of the field and rather ominously was trapped against the rail, a notoriously difficult spot to find yourself in at Longchamp.
For a brief moment it looked like Frankie might have made a mistake as the pacesetting Wild Coco set sail for home, but once she was asked to go Treve unleashed her devastating turn of foot to burst through a narrowing gap and chase down the leader to power clear in what almost looked like double speed.
With this awesome victory Treve shot to the forefront of the market for the Arc, but more on that later…
5. Wise Dan – Woodbine Mile – Woodbine – 15.9.13
Horse of the Year elect Wise Dan has enjoyed another fantastic season in the US, adding a second Breeders’ Cup Mile to his already glittering CV but it was his record-breaking trip to Canada that stands out as his most impressive performance of 2013.
In landing the Woodbine Mile for the second straight year Wise Dan became the first ever two-time winner of the race, broke the track record and was sent off the shortest priced favourite ever for the race, not bad for a race in which he barely broke a sweat.
It was by no means a stellar field he had to beat to record his ninth consecutive win but giving lumps of weight away all round Wise Dan got his favoured stalk and pounce trip and as each of his rivals came under a drive he was still cruising along in such an effortless looking way it almost makes you wonder how he broke the track record.
As he forges clear in the stretch it’s impossible not to crack a smile as Johnny Velasquez repeatedly looks around for non-existent dangers and wins with nothing more than a hands and heels ride.
4. Farhh – Champion Stakes – Ascot – 19.10.13
Coming home in splendid isolation, Farhh’s Lockinge win was the more visually impressive of his two wins from two starts in 2013 and although I wanted to celebrate individual performances of greatness more here it was impossible not to include one of the season’s most heart-stopping finishes.
The Champion Stakes had a lot to live up to in 2013 having been the great Frankel’s swansong in 2012 but it delivered in spades as three great horses pulled miles clear of a quality field and fought out a pulsating climax.
Farhh’s performance was made all the more incredible by the fact he’d been off the track since his Lockinge win and was on the pace for much of the race. The training performance of Saeed Bin Suroor should not go unheralded, but it was Farhh’s class that got him to the lead and his heart that kept him there as Cirrus Des Aigles and Ruler Of The World just failed to claw him back.
In truth Ruler Of The World never quite looked like getting there, but on his favoured ground Cirrus Des Aigles looked like he had come to win the race only to be held off by one of the success stories of the season.
My Dad would tell you that it’s Farhh’s form with his favourite horse Osteopathic Remedy in the Thirsk Hunt Cup that made him the world-beater he retired as, but all jokes aside it just shows the progression of the horse to see him go from that race to this richest of races in under two years.
3. Novellist – King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes – Ascot – 27.7.13
Ascot’s summer showpiece the King George was for the second year running won by Germany as Novellist and jockey (/trainer) of the season Johnny Murtagh delivered a mightily impressive performance to land the prestigious prize.
It wasn’t the strongest renewal of the King George we’ve ever seen but with trail-blazers Ektihaam and Universal setting a ferocious pace to ensure there was no hiding place for their opponents it was a true test that the German raider passed with flying colours, in spite of having been somewhat friendless in the market beforehand.
Novellist had turned over Cirrus Des Aigles the previous time they met earlier in the season across the channel yet punters favoured the apple of Corine Barande-Barbe’s eye this time around, but as the front runners faltered it wasn’t the great French gelding that took up the running but the emerging talent from Germany.
Kicking clear under man of the moment Murtagh there was no catching Novellist and he recorded consecutive wins for the Germans going away from his pursuers in one of the best, but somewhat unexpected, performances of the season.
2. Moonlight Cloud – Prix De La Foret – Longchamp – 6.10.13
You’ll have to forgive the slight bias the next two entries are tinged with as I was privileged enough to be trackside for them both, that said there is no detracting from two of the finest performances put up by fillies, not just this season but possibly of all time.
Minutes since we saw a truly unforgettable display from one filly (more on that in a second) we were treated to a double as the magnificent Moonlight Cloud left scorch marks on the Longchamp turf coming from last to first in mere strides to take the Foret.
I will admit that from my position in the stands I thought she was beat at one point having seemingly been given too much to do, but once Thierry Jarnet, understandably riding with supreme confidence, called for the turbo Moonlight Cloud effortlessly brushed aside strong opposition with ease.
Arc day 2013 will forever live in my memory for being my first venture to the Longchamp spectacular but thanks to Moonlight Cloud and the horse we’ll talk about it in a minute it will also live long in the memory of most racing fans thanks to two dazzling performances of sheer brilliance.
1. Treve – Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe – Longchamp – 6.10.13
It couldn’t really have been anything else could it!?
On 6th October Treve treated us to a performance for the ages as she dismantled one of the strongest Arc fields in years with such dominance had you not seen it you may not have believed it.
What makes Treve’s Arc win, once again breaking Japanese hearts in the process, all the more spectacular is just how bad of a trip she had to endure and overcome during the race.
Having been drawn practically in the car park (trainer Criquette Head-Maarek had ominously said it was just a number, maybe more people should have listened) many thought that was the Vermeille winner’s chance gone.
I hadn’t been overly concerned with the draw as I knew she would be dropped in and held up, however she still ended up widest of all having to cover more ground than most of the field and even took a few licks in running from Al Kazeem up the back just for good measure.
As they entered the false straight though, Thierry Jarnet – subbing for the injured Frankie Dettori – asked Treve to start to move up and she quickly bypassed most of the field before shooting to the front as they rounded the turn.
Travelling so much better than everything else in the race as soon as she exhibited the devastating turn of foot we had seen her utilise before, the race was put to bed and Treve kicked five lengths clear of the chasing Orfevre and Intello to notch yet another Arc win for a three-year-old filly and in doing so serve up the greatest equine performance of 2013.
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