Danedream leads home a fillies' 1-2-3 in the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)  

Calls for end of female allowance get louder

WORLD CLASS: an analysis of the international scene according to Racing Post Ratings

BLACK CAVIAR's unquestioned dominance earlier in the year inspired an argument for scrappage of the distaff allowance and fuel was added to the fire this weekend.

On Saturday, Havre De Grace slammed her own sex in the Beldame, proving her connections were spot on to target the Breeders' Cup Classic.

And then on Sunday Danedream was a record-breaking winner of the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, beating Shareta and Snow Fairy into second and third, with So You Think finishing best of the boys in fourth.

Not satisfied with having the best sprinter on theplanet, the girls are now out to dominate the most prestigious races in the world (Arc/Breeders' Cup Classic).

If Havre De Grace does manage to beat the boys at Churchill Downs next month, calls for the distaff weight concession to be removed altogether will get louder, and with good reason.

This current batch of man-eaters is not a one off anomaly. These fillies are riding the coat-tails of a number of recent distaffers who also proved better than the colts - the likes of Zarkava, Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra and Goldikova.

But now it is becoming the norm for fillies to come out on top, should the various racing jurisdictions now level the playing field to allow the colts a chance to win- lest the boys end up avoiding the premier events altogether to stay within the safehouse of colts-only racing?

Of course, much like the female equine racing community, I'm breaking balls, but there is a point here.

Just as with weight-for-age, the distaff allowance is dated and it is a best fit formula which allows some horses an advantage which they may not necessarily need.

Some suggestions have been made to scrap all allowances and have every horse run off the same weight. This would be fair in one way - cosmetically - but it would not allow for competitive racing.

Chucking out the weight-for-age system is unlikely now because it would be expensive to keep everyhorse in training until it is fully mature (competitive), added to that is all of the history and heritage you would wipe out with one red swipe.

So basically, love it or hate it, we're always going to be stuck with weight-for-age in one form or other, but if distaffers keep beating up the boys there will have to come a time when those emasculated souls cry enough and demand a level playing field.

Until then, we all know it's still happening, so as punters we can just stick with those fantastic females.

In Sunday's Arc, fillies finished first, second and third. They may not have been the best three horses on the day, as So You Think ran a cracker from the rear in a race where it clearly paid to be prominent and he was probably at least second best.

Race positioning was all important and Danedream had a nice sit behind the leaders, got a clear run to the line and pulled an impressive five lengths clear.

Snow Fairy followed her through to take third, while the major fancies like So You Think and Sarafina were running on too late, posting below-par figures.

Though it paid to be on the pace, Danedream broke thecourse record for her five-length success and she rates alongside recent winner Rail Link with an RPR of 128, just below the great Zarkava (129). Runner-up Shareta was best placed on the lead turning in and posted a career best mark of 120.

Taking her sex allowance into account, an RPR of 128 means it would have taken a 131 performance from a colt to dead-heat with her, or a 132 to beat her. So horses like So You Think and dear old Pour Moi (injured ante-post favourite) would have hada task catching her even if gifted the run of the race.

It was probably hers all along. The rapidly improving €9,000 "fun horse" becomes queen of Europe. You have to love the story.

This weekend was not only about the Arc and there were a number of world class performances all over the planet. Allow me to rip through the pick of them . . .

First up Ambitious Dragon who posted a career best RPR of 125+ in a Group 3 handicap at Sha Tin. He is the leading Hong Konger this year and jockey Douglas Whyte thinks he's the best he's ever ridden.

The best performance on Saturday's card at Longchamp came from Champion Stakes fancy Cirrus Des Aigles (125), who ran second to Byword (121) under a penalty in the Prix Dollar.

Then we followed the sunwest to Belmont Park where Uncle Mo (127) posted the biggest RPR of the day for his defeat of Jackson Bend in the Kelso Handicap.

This was a step up from his comeback in the King's Bishop, but he only faced three rivals and still has something to prove distance-wise for the Breeders' Cup Classic, for which he became the latest favourite (yes, another) after stablemate Stay Thirsty got turned over.

Stay Thirsty was a narrow favourite for the Jockey Club Gold Cup on Saturday, but it was Flat Out (125) who cashed in his recent solid placed form behind Havre De Grace with a two-and-a-quarter length win over Drosselmeyer.

Havre De Grace is set to receive 3lb from the colts in the Breeders' Cup Classic and after her success in the Beldame she remains best-in on the adjusted figures. She was awesome on Saturday night and made my suggestion last week to run her in the Ladies' Classic look ridiculous.

More ridiculous still was Blind Luck finishing last inthe Lady's Secret when the sun moved over California, meaning the hypothetical showdown in the Ladies' Classic would be off altogether (Blind Luck will not run).

Blind Luck was better than Havre De Grace last year. In all four meetings, she came out best at the weights. This year, however, Havre De Grace has improved (and is still improving) and the pecking order has now reversed, with Larry Jones's filly coming out best at the weights in their two meetings in 2011.

Havre De Grace's latest win was worth a career best RPR of 125+ and it is actually unrateable in conventional terms, meaning it could be worth even more. If she can repeat that level in the Classic it means a colt would need to run to 128 to match her. If she can build on that I think she'll win.

Connections deserve credit for pointing her to the Classic. She has always had a realistic chance given the adjusted weights in this open year, but they had an easy option against Blind Luck in the Ladies' race and they rejected that to go for broke.

They have already tried her against the boys in the Woodward and she won (just like Rachel Alexandra) and now she has an unrateable wide-margin win (just like Rachel) to add to her record.

This season is really coming together for Havre De Grace. She's improving at the right time and, unlike most of the alternatives for the 2011 Horse of the Year, she would not be a compromisechoice. If she wins the Classic she would be a very deserving champ.

And with the 3lb weight allowance she might just do it. Vive les pouliches.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Danedream 128 Peter Schiergen (Ger) (Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe, Longchamp, 1m4f, October 2)

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