Ahead of Derby hero Workforce's much-anticipated return in the King George on Saturday, the Timeform team, unsurprisingly, has the son of King's Best rated as the best three-year-old colt in Europe on 132p. The horse who ran third to him at Epsom, Rewilding, by Tiger Hill, is many people's idea of this year's St Leger winner and he is on a mark of 122p for his exploits in the Derby.
And they're not the only Darley-sired horses to be among the very best this season. In France, the top three colts of the Classic generation are by Shamardal (pictured), Dubawi and Cape Cross, with Shamardal's dual Classic winner Lope De Vega sharing a mark of 125 with Dubawi's 2,000 Guineas winner Makfi while Behkabad, who became Cape Cross's eighth G1 winner last week when landing the Grand Prix de Paris, has gained a rating of 122.
In the French fillies' division, Sarafina, a daughter of Refuse To Bend bred by the Aga Khan, leads the way with a mark of 120p gained for her top-flight victories in the Prix Saint-Alary and Prix de Diane.
Among the juvenile ranks, Timeform's top-rated two-year-old by a European-based stallion is Dunboyne Express, Shamardal's eye-catching eight-length Anglesey Stakes winner, who is rated 119p. His sire, who was the leading freshman in 2009, continues to record impressive first-crop statistics, with 55 per cent of his three-year-olds earning ratings of 90 or above by Timeform.
Just behind Dunboyne Express is another well-regarded colt, Libranno, by the French-based Librettist, and winner of the G2 July Stakes. Already on a mark of 113, that could well be improved upon when he runs in the G2 Richmond Stakes at next week's Glorious Goodwood meeting.
Iffraaj has wasted no time in advertising his claims to follow his close relation Cape Cross in taking the leading first-season sire honours. So far this season he has 17 first-crop winners in Europe and 13 of those juveniles have earned a Timeform 'p' next to their ratings, indicating that there's plenty more to come from these talented young sons and daughters of Iffraaj.
