Dual Group 1 winner U S Navy Flag has been confirmed as European champion two鈥恲ear鈥恛ld for 2017 with a rating of 122 at the unveiling of the European two-year-old Thoroughbred Classifications in London today.
He is the tenth European juvenile champion to be trained by the Ballydoyle maestro Aidan O鈥橞rien, in a list that stretches back to Fasliyev, in 1999.
In a magical 15鈥恉ay window U S Navy Flag became the first horse since Diesis in 1982 to win both the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes and the Darley Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket. He becomes just the second Middle Park winner since 2002 to be crowned the continent鈥檚 leading juvenile but he鈥檚 the ninth in that time to gain the title after winning the Dewhurst, and the fourth in a row following on from Belardo (119), Air Force Blue (124) and Churchill (122).
Mark Bird, Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board Handicapper and delegate at the European two鈥恲ear-old meeting, said:
鈥淭he motto of the US Navy is Semper Fortis (Always Courageous) and it would be difficult to think of a more apt description than that for U S Navy Flag.
鈥淭he redoubtable colt saw the most racecourse action (11 appearances) as a two-year-old of any of the 44 European juvenile champions and joint-champions, dating back to 1978. Although he ranks toward the lower end of the scale in terms of previous champions, there was no shortage of quality in some of his efforts and he emerged to put in the season鈥檚 defining juvenile performance, in landing his second Group 1, the Dewhurst, in record time.鈥�
Aidan O鈥橞rien鈥檚 conveyor belt continued to churn out the talent and he also sent out the season鈥檚 champion juvenile filly in the shape of Clemmie (115) 鈥� a 鈥榙ouble鈥� he previously achieved in 2005, 2011 and 2015. Indeed, were it not for Lady Aurelia last year, this would have been the third year in a row that O鈥橞rien would have topped both categories outright. He is also responsible for the second highest rated two-year-old in Saxon Warrior (119), who landed what appeared to be a high鈥恈lass renewal of the Racing Post Trophy.
Clemmie and Ryan Moore winning The Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes
Graeme Smith, the British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Handicapper responsible for two鈥恲ear鈥恛lds said:
鈥淐lemmie rather broke the mould in becoming Galileo鈥檚 first Group 1 winner at 6f from his thirteen crops of racing age. She headed a slightly substandard group of fillies with a figure of 115, but she鈥檚 a sister to the 2016 Champion two鈥恲ear鈥恛ld and 2017 QIPCO 2000 Guineas winner, Churchill, and both her pedigree and performances suggest she鈥檒l improve further when given her chance at the Guineas trip鈥�.
Great Britain provided the strongest draft of two鈥恲ear鈥恛lds numerically with 20 of the 45 horses rated 110 or above, and both Roaring Lion (118) and Expert Eye (117) look particularly promising among them.
The leading French鈥恡rained juvenile was Olmedo, who improved quickly to a rating of 113 despite being beaten on both his starts in pattern company. Germany was represented for just the second time in the last six years after Erasmus (112) ran away with the Preis Des Winterfavoriten in Cologne.
With attention turning to the year ahead Graeme Smith provides his views on a dark horse or two worth following:
鈥淛ohn Gosden showed with Enable that he鈥檚 happy to introduce a superstar on Newcastle鈥檚 tapeta following the close of the turf season and he could well have repeated the trick with Without Parole this time around.
鈥淭he bay son of Frankel is a half鈥恇rother to a Breeders鈥� Cup Dirt Mile winner and he looked every inch a star as he drew clear of a couple of experienced rivals rated in the 80s, coming away for nothing more than hands鈥恆nd鈥恏eels riding and eventually eased down to score by six lenghts. With the third鈥恜laced Windsor Cross winning a handicap soon after, the decision of Without Parole鈥檚 owner to buy him back for 650,000gns at the Book 1 sale in 2016 currently looks a very smart move.
鈥淥ther dark horses worth looking out for in Britain include William Haggas鈥檚 Willie John, John Gosden鈥檚 Highgarden and Charlie Appleby鈥檚 Key Victory.鈥�
Mark Bird adds his views on the Irish and other overseas ones to watch:
鈥淓nable provided her owner Prince Khalid Abdullah with some of the most special moments of the 2017 season during her illustrious three-year-old career and while it is asking a lot for connections to have such a star three-year-old filly for the second year in a row, it could just happen based on the promise shown by the owner鈥檚 Contingent on her sole outing at two.
鈥淭rained by Dermot Weld, the daughter of Frankel is out of the Prix Marcel Boussac winner Proportional and put up a very taking performance in winning what is traditionally a strong back鈥恊nd maiden over a mile at Leopardstown in October, overcoming a wide draw and showing an impressive turn of foot.
鈥淎nother that may be worth following in Ireland is Galway maiden winner Amedeo Modigliani, who is by Galileo out of a half鈥恠ister to Aussie Rules, while in France, it was hard not to be impressed by the unbeaten Wootton, who is by the same sire as Almanzor.鈥�
Notes to editors:
1. The full European two-year-old Classification 2016 can be found .
2. 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鈥橲 BEST RACEHORSE RANKINGS and is published for informational purposes. The two-year-old Classification was first published in 1978.
