Kameko showed high-class form to win the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket back in June, but he had been below that level in three subsequent starts in Group 1 company, finishing only fourth in the Derby, Sussex Stakes and Juddmonte International.
There had been valid excuses on each occasion, but Friday’s Joel Stakes still represented a test that he really needed to pass to confirm his earlier promise, which he duly did with flying colours. Indeed, he didn’t just bounce back to his best but proved better than ever in giving weight and a beating to a pair of talented older horses, digging deep to repel Regal Reality and Benbatl by half a length.
A new Timeform rating of 129 puts him behind only Palace Pier (132) among Timeform’s highest-rated three-year-olds in Europe. The pair are now set for a mouth-watering clash in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot, and Kameko arguably represents the value at current future racing odds.
Supremacy looks one to follow in sprints
It was a productive weekend at Newmarket for Clive Cox, who won both the Rockfel Stakes with Isabella Giles and the Middle Park Stakes with Supremacy, each of them looking good prospects to go to war with as three-year-olds in 2021.
Isabella Giles was taking her record to four wins from five starts in the Rockfel, seeing the trip out strongly to land the spoils by two lengths in a good time. Admittedly, she will need to improve to be considered a key player for next year’s 1000 Guineas – for which she is currently available at 25/1 – but her terrific attitude should continue to stand her in good stead.
As for Supremacy, he is unlikely to have the classics on his agenda given that he looks all about speed, with the Commonwealth Cup appealing as the obvious target.
He is now the favourite in the ante-post betting for that Group 1 and it’s easy to see why, with his new Timeform rating of 118 putting him behind only Thunder Moon (120p) among the best two-year-olds we’ve seen so far in 2020.
High Definition a worthy Epsom Derby favourite
High Definition is now favourite in Paddy Power’s future racing betting for the 2021 Derby and understandably so, such was the impression he created in winning Saturday’s Beresford Stakes at the Curragh.
The son of Galileo looked to be going nowhere on the home turn (touched 99/1 in-running), but the ground he made up from there identifies him as a most exciting prospect, passing nearly every one of his 12 rivals in the straight to land the spoils by three quarters of a length.
Aidan O’Brien has now won the last 10 renewals of this Group 2 – a roll of honour that includes the subsequent top-level winners Capri (2016), Saxon Warrior (2017) and Japan (2018) – and High Definition has the potential to be as good as any of them.
Still far from the finished article, he looks sure to make significant improvement as a three-year-old and is expected to develop into a leading classic contender for his powerful connections.
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