Baaeed, Frankel and other top performers on time this century

Baaeed made a lasting visual impression when quickening away from the previous year’s winner Mishriff in the final furlong to record a six-and-a-half length victory in the Juddmonte International at York on Wednesday. Performances that impress the eye are not always what they might appear, but Baaeed’s latest victory, taking his career record to an unbeaten ten starts, was backed up by a top-notch timefigure.

A display like this on the clock from Baaeed was perhaps a little overdue because his form already left no doubt that he was a top-class colt – his last five wins before York had all been in Group 1 company, after all. But with the exception of his Queen Anne Stakes victory, when he recorded a timefigure of 126, Baaeed’s performances on the clock had been nothing to write home about until this week. The Queen Anne was run at a sound pace whereas the Sussex Stakes, for example, which Baaeed won next, was run at a much more ordinary gallop resulting in a winning timefigure of only 111.

But at York, circumstances were such that Baaeed ran much his best race from a timefigure point of view, recording an exceptional figure of 135 which, as the accompanying table below shows, has only been achieved on rare occasions this century. The pace-setting High Definition, whose best hope of success was making his own proven stamina count whilst trying to expose any flaws in Baaeed’s staying powers on his first try beyond a mile, returned tailed off as a result of those exertions but the pace he set was an important factor in Baaeed recording an outstanding timefigure.

Baaeed’s own sire Sea The Stars broke the track record when winning a four-runner Juddmonte International in 2009, a race in which chief rival Mastercraftsman was accompanied by a couple of pacemakers who came home a distance behind the first two. The track record was merely indicative of very quick conditions on the day, and while, nonetheless, Sea The Stars recorded an excellent timefigure of 131 at York, he’d already run an even better race on the clock when winning the Eclipse at Sandown, another race where pacemakers ensured an unrelenting gallop.

Sea The Stars’ timefigure of 132 from the 2009 Eclipse is one of the best this century but it’s Frankel who dominates the table with no fewer than four top-drawer performances on the clock. Baaeed’s Juddmonte performance is only just behind Frankel’s two very best timefigures, however. Frankel recorded the first of those as a three-year-old when putting up an extraordinary display from the front in the 2000 Guineas and he produced another 136 timefigure the following season with another stunning victory in the Juddmonte International.

Just like Baaeed ten years later, Frankel was stepping up from a mile for the first time at York and it was in his rivals’ best interests to try to expose any stamina doubts he might have had, with Ballydoyle supplying pacemakers to help the cause of Frankel’s main rival St Nicholas Abbey who was proven at a mile and a half. But, again like the latest Juddmonte International, rather than expose any flaws in the favourite, the well-run race did just the opposite; it revealed an exceptional racehorse in the best possible light. Frankel burst clear to win by seven lengths.

Another exceptional time performance at York’s Ebor meeting this century came from Oasis Dream in the 2003 Nunthorpe but the other one to rival Baaeed’s and Frankel’s best performances came from Harbinger in the 2010 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes. That was another big race where the presence of a pacemaker resulted in an outstanding time performance, though ironically it was Sir Michael Stoute’s other runner, the Derby winner Workforce (who himself recorded an exceptional timefigure at Epsom), who was supposed to benefit most from Confront doing the donkey work. But while Workforce was beaten before the straight, Harbinger – who sadly never got the chance to back up the performance – cruised into the race from off the pace before drawing 11 lengths clear.

An end-to-end gallop is crucial for a fast timefigure which is why pacemakers feature in many of the races mentioned above. However, they seem to have gone out of fashion over the last decade or so, which means that it could be some time before a timefigure to rival Baaeed’s this week is seen again.

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