Tony McFadden highlights the Timeform ratings reaction following a high-quality weekend of action featuring big performances from White Birch and Inisherin.
White Birch (Timeform rating 128 from 120)
White Birch had come up short on both attempts at the highest level last season, finishing third behind Auguste Rodin in the Derby and only eighth behind the same rival in the Irish Derby, but he's a much-improved performer this time around and he produced a high-class effort to make the Group 1 breakthrough in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.
White Birch was arriving on the back of wins in the Alleged Stakes and Mooresbridge Stakes and he raised his game another notch on Sunday, tanking his way into contention before quickly putting daylight between himself and Auguste Rodin, passing the post with a three-length advantage.
That effort, which was backed up by a good time, earned White Birch a Timeform rating of 128 and no Flat horse in training in Europe has a higher figure (Kyprios is also rated 128). It's worth pointing out that White Birch's progress this spring has come with cut in the ground but on the form he showed on Sunday he'll be a big player wherever he turns up next.
Vandeek, last season's highest-rated juvenile trained in Britain, was a disappointing third on his return to action at Haydock on Saturday but he needed to have been better than ever to have beaten Inisherin who proved a revelation over six furlongs.
Inisherin had shown good speed and enthusiasm in the 2000 Guineas a few weeks ago, leading the field along for more than five furlongs there, and he relished the drop in trip on Saturday, posting a dominant three-and-three-quarter-length victory from the front.
That very smart performance, which earned Inisherin a Timeform rating of 121, is up there among the best in the race since it was upgraded to Group 2 status, with only Harry Angel posting a clearly better effort in 2017.
Inisherin doesn't hold an entry for the Commonwealth Cup but he would be a leading player if supplemented as he has already run to a similar level to what is typically required in that Royal Ascot sprint.
Kerdos (120 from 112)
Last season's Nunthorpe winner Live In The Dream launched another bold bid from the front on his seasonal reappearance but, on ground that perhaps slightly blunted his blazing speed, he was worn down close home by the progressive Kerdos.
Kerdos hadn't looked like a potentially top-level sprinter last term but he had shaped well when beaten only three-quarters of a length in fifth in the Palace House at Newmarket (was unlucky not to finish even closer) and he improved on that again at Haydock.
He's now reached a very smart level and will be entitled to plenty of respect in what doesn't look like a strong edition of the Charles III Stakes (formerly King's Stand Stakes). For context, he's rated higher than current favourite Big Evs, who admittedly is open to improvement as a three-year-old, and rated the same as second favourite Regional who shaped well when runner-up at the Curragh on Saturday.
Fallen Angel had failed to meet expectations when only eighth in the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket but, back at the scene of her impressive success in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, she showed her class in the Irish 1000 Guineas at the Curragh.
Fallen Angel impressed with how she went through the race and was notably strong at the finish, hitting the line in the style of one who will have no issue staying further.
Her Timeform rating of 117 marks her out as an above-average winner of the Irish 1000 Guineas and the highest-rated three-year-old filly around.
Almaqam (115p from 92p)
The feature race at Sandown on Thursday, the Brigadier Gerard Stakes, may have been a disappointing renewal, but the listed Heron Stakes for three-year-olds was an interesting event and was won by a really promising type in Almaqam who showed much-improved form to readily brush his rivals aside.
Almaqam was always in a nice position, sitting handily in a race run at a steady tempo, but it was still impressive how he stormed clear inside the final furlong, passing the post with an advantage of three and three-quarter lengths.
Stablemate Waipiro ran to a similar level when winning the Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot last season so that would seem like an obvious target.
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