Baaeed put up one of the great performances of the modern era to land Wednesday’s Juddmonte International at York and stretch his unbeaten record to a perfect 10.
A decade after Frankel’s seven-length rout in the same race, the son of 2009 winner Sea The Stars, on his first start past a mile, delivered a devastating 6½-length defeat to last year’s winner Mishriff. If such a margin of victory over a top-class 124-rated star had handicappers crunching figures to put such a performance in context, the overall impression was of devastating class.
Pre-race fears about poor health among some of the William Haggas team, and even a late fine for the trainer due to Baaeed showing signs of a skin condition, proved happily redundant.
Jim Crowley’s mount cruised off a pace cut out by High Definition and the jockey was confident enough to pull into the pack early in the straight as Mishriff struck for home. All the speed Baaeed showed over a mile allowed him cruise up to his rival and the way he ran away in the final furlong suggested practically any trip would prove no problem.
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Crowley agreed, declaring six furlongs to a mile-and-a-half being within the colt’s range, describing him as “the perfect racehorse”. There were immediate 5-4 quotes for Baaeed to successfully step up again in trip in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, the race that his sire memorably finished up in.
Haggas however was having none of that and insisted the world’s highest rated racehorse will end his career in the same race Frankel wound up in, October’s Champion Stakes at Ascot.
“He’ll go for the Champions Stakes at Ascot,” he said. “You can’t do both and we wanted our finale in the Champions Stakes, that’s always been our plan.”
Bypassing the Arc might strike many as being too prudent an option for such an exceptional talent but Wednesday’s display looks like a worthy signature performance by a rare champion. It certainly puts Baaeed into the reckoning of those futile if fascinating conversations about establishing a supposed pecking order of the very best in history. At the least, it validates comparisons that had been made to benchmark performers such as his sire and Frankel.
“He’s as good as the greats,” was Crowley’s immediate verdict.
Haggas was loath to compare and said: “He was imperious today, nearly as good as Frankel. Just give him credit for what he does, don’t compare him to Frankel.”
Nevertheless, in figures terms, Paddy Power reckoned it odds-on an official handicap rating of at least 135 is coming Baaeed’s way after such a dominant display. That’s a little off Frankel’s record 140 but in the mix with his sire’s 136.
Johnny Murtagh’s reaction
On ITV, former champion jockey Johnny Murtagh was unequivocal and said: “That was a wow performance. Now you can start making the comparisons to the two greats, Frankel and Sea The Stars, because we have seen it on the track.”
Relief at having delivered was a major emotion for Haggas who downplayed a British Horseracing Authority £140 (€166) fine due to a rash on Baaeed’s neck for which the trainer didn’t have the correct paperwork.
“Apparently the vet saw some spots on his neck which he thought was ringworm, but I can assure you he never had any spots when he left the yard and when I went to saddle him I couldn’t see any. I just felt it was unnecessary and I hope they don’t think we don’t know what we’re doing. It was probably a heat rash,” he said.
If such a trivial detail is quickly forgotten the memory of Baaeed in his pomp will be anything but.
