Churchill conquers Europe

CHURCHILL, with a rating of 122, was announced as the ninth European champion two-year-old to be trained by Aidan O’Brien in the past 18 years.

In winning both the Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh and the Dubai Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, he follows in the footsteps of previous champions Air Force Blue (124), Dawn Approach (124), New Approach (126) and Teofilo (123), all of whom won both of these races en route to becoming the continent’s leading juvenile.

Mark Bird, Irish Turf Club Handicapper and delegate at the European two-year-old meeting, said: “Churchill’s final rating of 122 sits just marginally below this century’s par rating for a European Champion two-year-old of 123.

"However, the progressive nature of his form allied to his obvious physical scope and impressive pedigree give rise to hope that his early career may be just the launch pad to greater success as a three-year-old.

“As his namesake once stated, “the price of greatness is responsibility”, so we hope and expect that Churchill will live up to his reputation in 2017”.

Lady Aurelia

Aidan O’Brien would also have been responsible for the top three juvenile fillies were it not for the exploits of the outstanding Lady Aurelia (121), who missed out only narrowly on being rated Europe’s first female two-year-old champion since Ravinella shared top honours with Warning back in 1987.

Nevertheless, she is rated the best two-year-old filly in more than a decade, having produced one of the most memorable performances since Arazi when smashing both the opposition and the clock in the Queen Mary at Royal Ascot.

That 121-rated performance is trumped only by Queen’s Logic’s 2001 success in the Cheveley Park (122) in the fillies’ division in the last 24 years.

Aidan O’Brien is responsible for five of the top 10 horses on the list in a strong year for the Irish. As ever, attention soon switches to the spring and hopes for the season ahead.

The European Handicappers meet annually at the direction of the European Pattern Committee to discuss and agree the European two-year-old rankings.

Two-year-olds are included in the Classification if they put up a performance in Europe rated at 110 or more or if they perform to this level outside of the Continent whilst trained in Europe.

The Classification does not form part of the LONGINES WORLD’S BEST RACEHORSE RANKINGS and is published for informational purposes.

The 2-y-o Classification was first published in 1978. – Horseracing Authority British