Timeform rating Royal Ascot Tuesday
Monday 16 June 2014 09:42, UK
Timeform have Kingman rated 2lb ahead of his 2000 Guineas conqueror Night of Thunder as the pair get ready to clash again in the St James’s Palace Stakes on the opening day of Royal Ascot 2014.
Richard Hannon’s Night of Thunder won the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket by half a length from Kingman, but the John Gosden-trained Kingman has since improved his Timeform rating in running out an impressive winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas at the Curragh.
Timeform Chief Correspondent Jamie Lynch commented: “It may be 1-1 in their match-ups so far, but as far as we’re concerned Kingman is the better horse, with the potential to take his place amongst the great milers of any era.
"The tactical nuances of the Guineas saw Night of Thunder come out on top at Newmarket, but either side of that Kingman has looked something special, and we fully expect him to prove the point in this decider.”
The St James’s Palace is just one of three Group One races on the opening day of Royal Ascot. Earlier on the card, Hannon’s stable star Toronado makes his seasonal reappearance in the Queen Anne Stakes. Toronado has 6lb in hand of his nearest rival Soft Falling Rain on Timeform ratings and is expected to take all the beating as he chases a second Group 1 success.
Lynch said: “Toronado fully deserved his title of Timeform’s top-rated European miler last year, and if he brings his A-Game first time out then the rest are going to struggle to lay a glove on him.
“Verrazano is an intriguing project for Aidan O’Brien to work with, but even his best in America is a fair way behind Toronado’s level, likewise the South Africa representative Soft Falling Rain. If he’s ready to roll – and his record in previous seasons suggests he will be – then Toronado looks one of the bankers of the week.”
In the King’s Stand Stakes over five furlongs, last year’s first and second, Sole Power and Shea Shea, are set to do battle again, but it is the up-and-comer in the field, Hot Streak, who tops Timeform’s figures, and Lynch is particularly excited about seeing him: “It’s a long time since Britain has produced a sprinter as electric as Hot Streak is proving to be.
"His performances in the Cornwallis Stakes last autumn and the Temple Stakes this spring were little short of awesome, with the timefigures to match. The older guard of Sole Power and Shea Shea will do well to catch Hot Streak, Britain’s new sprinting sensation.”
St James’s Palace Stakes (all ratings weight-adjusted)
143p KINGMAN
141 NIGHT OF THUNDER
135 TOORMORE
134 WAR COMMAND
130 OUTSTRIP
119p PRINCE OF ALL
115p YUFTEN
Queen Anne Stakes
147 TORONADO
141 SOFT FALLING RAIN
139 TULLIUS
137+ VERRAZANO
136 MULL OF KILLOUGH
135 SIDE GLANCE
135 ANODIN
131 PRODUCER
129 ANSGAR
125§ GLORY AWAITS
King’s Stand Stakes
140p HOT STREAK
137 SHEA SHEA
135 SOLE POWER
134 PEARL SECRET
133 AHTOUG
133 STEPS
133 JACK DEXTER
132p GUERRE
131 REX IMPERATOR
129 MEDICEAN MAN
128 ES QUE LOVE
127 STEPPER POINT
123 JUSTICE DAY
123 CALEDONIA DAY
120 TAKE COVER
120 GREEN DOOR
111 ANCIL
