Monday, 29 December 2008: The latest batch of Aidan O'Brien-trained juveniles enjoyed a better season than their counterparts in 2007 when, for the first time since O'Brien took over at Ballydoyle in 1996, the colts did not win a single Group 1 race, Henrythenavigator coming closest when second in the Phoenix Stakes.

Aidan O'Brien Photo by Racing and Sports

The tally over the preceding eleven years had been thirty-eight Group 1s (plus Johannesburg's Breeders' Cup Juvenile). A further three were added in 2008 by Mastercraftsman (Phoenix and National Stakes) and Fame And Glory (Criterium de Saint-Cloud, a performance which earned him a Timeform rating of 109p).

Mastercraftsman followed other Ballydoyle inmates One Cool Cat and George Washington in completing the Phoenix/National double, showing form well up to scratch for those races. He was probably feeling the effects of a hard race in the National Stakes when beaten at odds on behind the top French juvenile Naaqoos in the Jean-Luc Lagardere on Arc weekend.

Ballydoyle's other pattern-winning two-year-olds in the latest season were Westphalia (rated 110) in the Champagne Stakes at Doncaster (the stable usually aims its best at the National Stakes the same weekend) and Rip Van Winkle in the Group 3 Tyros Stakes at Leopardstown, which champion two-year-olds Teofilo and New Approach had won in the two previous seasons.

Rip Van Winkle started a short-priced favourite for the Dewhurst on his next start three months later, by which time he was already considerably shorter in the ante-post Guineas betting than stablemate Mastercraftsman.

Defeat in a bunched finish at Newmarket (beaten less than two lengths into seventh, not knocked about, behind the Jean-Luc Lagardere third Intense Focus) did not harm Rip Van Winkle's classic prospects. Indeed, if a classic winner comes from the substandard Dewhurst field it could well be Rip Van Winkle who still has improvement in him.

The other Dewhurst runner with clear potential is fifth-placed Delegator who, like Rip Van Winkle, took the step up in class in his stride and did well after being held up and having a fair bit to do.

Delegator is one of three in Timeform's top twenty juveniles trained by Brian Meehan who is also responsible for Gallagher, in the frame behind Irish-trained Bushranger in both the Prix Morny and Middle Park and behind Lord Shanakill in the Mill Reef.

The undoubted number-one in the Meehan yard, however, and clearly the leading two-year-old in Europe on his performance in the Racing Post Trophy, is Crowded House whose time performance provided independent confirmation of the form he showed at Doncaster.

Crowded House's three-and-a-half-length victory over the Royal Lodge winner Jukebox Jury was gained in spectacular fashion, as he unleashed an exceptional turn of foot after being switched to find a way through in a big field.

The form shown by Crowded House was the best recorded in the Racing Post Trophy for fifteen years, surpassing the efforts of such as High Chaparral, Motivator and Authorized, all of whom went on to Derby success. Epsom is Crowded House's main aim but he has the attributes necessary for the Guineas too, if connections decide to take in Newmarket on the way.

Brian Meehan is the only trainer with three representatives in Timeform's top twenty, Mark Johnston (Jukebox Jury and Shaweel) and David Wachman (Bushranger and the filly Chintz) the only others to match Aidan O'Brien's two (Mastercraftsman and Rip Van Winkle).

The wider than usual spread of good two-year-olds is also illustrated by the results of Britain's most important juvenile events. The top filly Rainbow View, who stood out among her contemporaries and was unbeaten in four starts, was the only two-year-old to win twice in Britain in
Group 1/ 2 company.

Rainbow View's stablemate the gelding Donativum (rated 111+) beat Crowded House in the Tattersalls Timeform Million, one of the season's big sales races. The form was stronger than that of most sales races but wasn't good enough to get Donativum into Timeform's top twenty.

Donativum went on to win the second running of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf from Westphalia, showing a similar level of form and putting himself in the Kentucky Derby picture (he has been switched from John Gosden to Godolphin).

The Maktoum family's strong hand among the American-trained two-year-olds includes the Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Midshipman, who beat ex-British Square Eddie, making his first appearance for Californian-based Doug O'Neill. Bushranger was never a threat at his first attempt on a synthetic surface.

The leading American two-year-old on dirt Vineyard Haven (who missed the Breeders' Cup because of the synthetic surface) was impressive in the Hopeful and the Champagne Stakes and has been purchased by Godolphin. His only defeat came in the Grade 2 Sanford Stakes in which he was third to Darley Stable's Desert Party (rated 109), a stablemate of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf third Coronet Of A Baron, who had been beaten a nose by Midshipman in the Del Mar Futurity on his previous outing, with the subsequent Breeders' Cup Juvenile third Street Hero a close third.

Top Three Year Olds in Europe   133    Raven's Pass (USA) 133    Zarkava (Ire) 132    New Approach (Ire) 131    Henrythenavigator (USA) 130    Conduit (Ire) 129    Paco Boy (Ire) 128    Goldikova (Ire) 127    Tartan Bearer (Ire) 126    Montmartre (Fr) 126    Overdose 126    Tamayuz 126    Vision d'Etat (Fr) 125    Lady Marian (Ger) 124    Aqlaam 124    Kamsin (Ger) 124    Kingsgate Native (Ire) 123    Look Here 122    Falco (USA) 122    Fleeting Spirit (Ire) 122    Frozen Fire (Ger) 122    Lush Lashes 122    Twice Over 121p  Kalahari Gold 121    Cima de Triomphe (Ire) 121    Equiano (Fr) 121    Famous Name 121    Russian Cross (Ire) 121    Stimulation (Ire) 120    Corrybrough 120    Unsung Heroine (Ire) 119    African Rose 119    Alessandro Volta 119    Campanologist (USA) 119    Casual Conquest (Ire) 119    Dar Re Mi 119    Moonstone 119    Nahoodh (Ire) 119    Sub Rose (Ire)   Top Older Horses In Europe 132    Duke of Marmalade (Ire) 131    Youmzain (Ire) 130    Soldier of Fortune (Ire) 129    Septimus (Ire) 128    It's Gino (Ger) 128    Yeats (Ire) 128§  Papal Bull 127    Archipenko (USA) 127    Getaway (Ger) 127    Marchand d'Or (Fr) 126    Creachadoir (Ire) 126    Jay Peg  (SAF) 126    Mount Nelson 126    Phoenix Tower (USA) 125    Ask 125    Borderlescott 125    Haradasun (Aus) 125    MacArthur 125    Sun Classique (Aus) 124    Cesare 124    Eagle Mountain 124    Linngari (Ire) 124    Saddex 124    Sakhee's Secret 124§  US Ranger (USA) 123    Adlerflug (Ger) 123    Doctor Dino (Fr) 123    Pipedreamer 123    Sageburg (Ire) 123    Tariq 123    Traffic Guard (USA) Top Two Year Olds in Europe 124p  Crowded House 120    Mastercraftsman (Ire) 119p  Rainbow View (USA) 119    Bushranger (Ire) 118    Art Connoisseur (Ire) 117p  Naaqoos 117    Gallagher 117    Intense Focus (USA) 117    Lord Shanakill (USA) 116p  Chintz (Ire) 116p  Delegator 116    Ashram (Ire) 116    Finjaan 116    Milanais 115p  Arazan (Ire) 115p  Proportional 115p  Rip Van Winkle (Ire) 115    Jukebox Jury 115    Sayif (Ire) 115    Shaweel   Top Two Year Olds In North America 120    Midshipman 118p  Stardom Bound 118p  Vineyard Haven 117    Springside 117    Square Eddie 116    Sky Diva 115    Rachel Alexandra 115    Street Hero 114p  Old Fashioned 114    Dream Empress 114    Terrain 113    Doremifasollatido 113    Run Away And Hide 112    C.S.Silk 112    Pioneerof The Nile 112?   Southern Exchange 111    Coronet of A Baron 111    Cribnote 111    Mani Bhavan 111    West Side Bernie     Top Three Year Olds In North America 132    Big Brown 123    Fatal Bullet 123    Music Note 123    Proud Spell 122    Georgie Boy 121    Colonel John 121    Mambo In Seattle 121    Zaftig 120    Da'Tara 120    Eight Belles  120    Indian Blessing     Top Older Horses In North America 134    Curlin 130    Midnight Lute 128    Zenyatta 126    Commentator 126    Kip Deville 125    Cost of Freedom 124    Cocoa Beach 124    Go Between 124    Grand Couturier 124    Past The Point 124    Red Rocks 124    Street Boss 124    Tiago 123    In Summation 123    Well Armed 122    Benny The Bull 122    Better Talk Now 122    Daytona 122    Divine Park 122    Einstein 122    Ginger Punch 122    Heatseeker  122    Wanderin Boy 122    Ventura The Timeform Rating is the merit of a horse expressed in pounds and is arrived at by careful examination of the horse's performances against those of others. The ratings range from 130+ for top-class performers down to around 20 for the poorest. Symbols attached to the ratings: 'p'-likely to improve' 'P'-capable of much better form; '+'-the horse may be better than we have been able to rate it; '?'-the rating is suspect.