“They usually lag behind form-based ratings, as horses seldom run in circumstances which allow them to maximise their speed throughout a race.
“Frankel's timefigures lagged behind his ability, but his 136 peak timefigure – achieved in both the 2000 Guineas and the International Stakes – is the best by any horse this century.
“What's more, he is responsible for four of the best six timefigures of the century, with this year's efforts in the Lockinge Stakes and Champion Stakes weighing in at 134.
“As with form-based measures, it's not just that Frankel did it: he did it time and again.”
10 years on and the best six timefigures since the turn of the century remain as they were. In fact, there has been only one new entry into the top 10 in the last decade, specifically the 132 timefigure returned by Crystal Ocean when he was beaten just a neck behind stablemate Poet’s Word in the 2018 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (Timeform holds the view that four-year-olds should be entitled to 1 lb weight-for-age from their older rivals over a mile and a half and at that stage of the season, so that explains why Crystal Ocean returned a timefigure 1 lb superior to the year-older winner).
Sea The Stars also returned a 132 timefigure when winning the 2009 Coral-Eclipse, but what about Baaeed, who usurped Crystal Ocean as Timeform’s highest-rated progeny of Sea The Stars when winning the Lockinge earlier this year? Has he beaten the clock as well as every rival to have lined up against him in his nine races to date?
In just one word: no.
Baaeed returned a 126 peak timefigure when winning the Queen Anne, which isn’t even the best achieved in Britain this year, never mind this century. On the same card Nature Strip returned a 129 timefigure when winning the King’s Stand Stakes, while Pyledriver recently matched Baaeed’s 126 timefigure when springing a surprise in the King George.
Of course, it should be pointed out that the Queen Anne was the only one of the four Group One races Baaeed has contested in Britain to be run at a sound pace. The Sussex, for example, was run at just an ordinary gallop which didn’t help in terms of stretching Baaeed – or his opponents – and the sprint for home developed only two furlongs out.
Given his undoubted talent, there must be a good chance that Baaeed can run a fast time when the circumstances are set up for him to do so, but it’s worth reiterating that he can only be judged on the evidence before us.
There has been plenty of it to sift through – hopefully you’ve made it this far – but it all points to only one horse being the greatest.
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