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Rating the 3YO Classic winners

3 minute read

A look at the numbers returned in this season’s 3YO Group 1 staying features.

MAJOR BEEL winning the ATC AUSTRALIAN DERBY.
MAJOR BEEL winning the ATC AUSTRALIAN DERBY. Picture: Martin King / Sportpix

The running of last Saturday's Queensland Oaks brought down the curtain on Australasian racing's Group 1 Classics for the 2022/23 season.

It was the 10th elite-level Oaks or Derby for the season in either Australia or New Zealand and below is a list of them ranked in order of their Timeform rating and comparisons with recent editions of each respective race.

ATC Australian Derby – Major Beel 116: The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained son of Savabeel was the longest-priced Oaks or Derby winner of the season at $31 and returned the same figure as this year's Sydney Cup winner Explosive Jack did when he won the 2400-metre event at Randwick two years earlier, but only Quick Thinker – who ran to 115 in 2020 – has won an ATC Derby with a lower rating in the past 30 years.

Queensland Derby – Kovalica 115: In contrast to the Sydney Derby, Queensland's version was a high-rating edition with Chris Waller's progressive Ocean Park gelding running a number that has been bettered by only two Queensland Derby winners since 2005 – filly Dariana and Ruthven – who both ran to 116. That was the figure Kovalica returned when third in the WFA Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) at his final start before the 2400m Derby.

Victoria Derby – Manzoice 114: Kovalica narrowly missed out on out-rating the ATC Derby winner, but he did post a higher number than that returned by the winner of the 2500m event at Flemington, which this season was won by Chris Waller's son of Almanzor. Only Johnny Get Angry (112) has returned a lower number winning the Victoria Derby this century and that was one of three previous occasions in the 2000s where the VRC Derby rated lower than the Queensland Derby. Kukeracha went 113 at Eagle Farm the season of Johnny Get Angry's win, Half Hennessy rated one pound higher than Helenus in 2002/03, while Hit The Roof and De Gaulle Lane were 118 and 122 respectively in 2000/01.

VRC Oaks – She's Extreme 111+: The + denotes scope to go higher, which the Anthony Cummings-trained daughter of Extreme Choice has already demonstrated an ability to do, having run 117 in Group 1 Champagne Stakes win as a two-year-old. She's Extreme's number doesn't compare with the race's peak figure of 124, which was returned by Miss Finland and Mosheen in their wins, but was a good number in comparison with more recent editions with only Miami Bound, who ran to 113, having gone better in the past seven seasons.

ATC Oaks – Pennyweka 111: The daughter of Satono Aladdin returned the same figure as the filly who precedes her on the ATC Oaks honour roll, El Patroness, which was the same number returned by another Kiwi filly who won Sydney's 2400m Group 1 Oaks, Sofia Rosa. The peak Timeform figure in the ATC Oaks this century is 119, which has been returned by four fillies, including another Kiwi, Bonneval. Like Bonneval, Pennyweka also won the Group 1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m), in which she returned a figure of 105.

New Zealand Derby – Sharp 'N' Smart 110: Graeme and Debbie Rogerson's son of Redwood was a mainstay of the Group 1 three-year-old staying features, winning both the NZ Derby and Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) and finishing a narrow second in the Victoria Derby. His Spring Champion figure was the same as Major Beel's Derby-winning number, while he went 112 at Flemington and was awarded a mark of 110 for his win over Andalus and Full Of Sincerity in the 2400m feature at Te Rapa.

South Australian Derby – Dunkel 107: Patrick Payne's Dundeel gelding missed the carnivals in Melbourne and Sydney, but won the Listed Tasmanian Derby (2200m) in 92 before elevating to 107+ in the 2500m Group 1 at Morphettville. That figure doesn't compare to the number returned by SA Derby flagbearer Russian Camelot (122), but was only one pound inferior to last year's winner Jungle Magnate who has since raced well in Hong Kong and Leicester, who won the SA Derby in 2018.

Queensland Oaks – Amokura 105: Kris Lees' progressive daughter of Kermadec graduated from an 1850m Newcastle maiden win on April 22 to etch her name alongside Winx and Ethereal on the list of Queensland Oaks winners this century. Her number was well down on the 115 returned by those two champions and also down on the past two winners, Gypsy Goddess (109) and Duais (110), but on par with the previous winner Winning Ways.

Australasian Oaks – Affaire A Suivre 104: The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained daughter of Astern endured a torturous run in the Queensland Oaks, but had a much more economical run in the 2000m Group 1 at Morphettville, when she rated 104. That is 11 pounds down on Australasian Oaks' glamour girl Lights Of Heaven but the same number returned by Media Award two years earlier.


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