Camelot: Derby triumph suggests he is capable of an RPR in the 130s

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Camelot the king of his age, but tests await

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

CAMELOT has found himself in a most unlikely position. A budding Triple Crown winner he may be but even success in the St Leger at Doncaster might not secure his immortality this year.

This is not because he's locked in the shadow of a Frankel-shaped legend. Nor is it because it's considered a foregone conclusion that he will land the third and final leg.

It's not even because the St Leger's appeal, and by extension that of the Triple Crown, has diminished markedly since the 1970s.

The real problem is that this year's crop of three-year-olds have fared so terribly against the older generation that his superiority over them, at whatever distance, still leaves him with something to prove.

Camelot's real test will come when he takes on his elders. Until then, Triple Crown or not, we simply will not know how good he is, beyond being clear of his generation.

The hard part of Camelot's Triple Crown bid is already complete. It was the Guineas and he won it through pure class.

The Guineas was not a classic Classic. It was run in a very slow time and the form has not worked out well. Runner-up French Fifteen finished tenth and seventh on his next starts - and neither were strong Group 1s.

Hermival, who finished third, went on to finish behind Most Improved in the St James's Palace and that winner was then thrashed behind Excelebration in the Prix Jacques le Marois.

In short, the three-year-old colt 1m division is incredibly weak and Camelot, a middle-distance performer, is still top of the tree.

As a son of Montjeu 1m was never going to be his best trip and he produced a much more noteworthy piece of form in the Derby on his next start, winning by five lengths from Main Sequence.

The Derby form has worked out well within their year group, with the subsequent runs of Main Sequence and Thought Worthy supporting Camelot's winning RPR of 128.

But the strength of that form is still unproven outside the three-year-old division. All the Derby collaterals prove is that among the three-year-olds, Camelot is king. There is no wider context.

Is he as good as Frankel? As Cirrus Des Aigles? Nathaniel? Danedream? St Nicholas Abbey? Farhh? Sea Moon? Dunaden? Meandre? Where precisely does Camelot fit in?

No European three-year-olds ran in the King George and only one of them has won an open (all-age, all-sex) Group 1 this year. That was Pastorius in the Grosser Dallmayr-Preis.

The German colt more or less confirmed his position as the number two in the European three-year-old standings by staying on to finish a close third behind Danedream in the Grosser Preis von Baden on Sunday.

The bare form of that race is nothing to write home about, with the pacemaker hanging on for second, but it was a valiant effort from the youngster, who had to come from behind the first two. He drew level with them before fading late.

Pastorius, however, has no workable collateral form with Camelot, so there is still no cogent link between Camelot on the best older horses.

With nothing doing the job on his behalf, the story for Camelot after the St Leger will be the same as it was after the Derby: if he wants recognition outside this ragtag bunch of sophomores, he will have to do it himself.

Thankfully, given that he's with Aidan O'Brien, he should get that opportunity next month. It might have been tempting for different connections to retire an unbeaten Triple Crown winner, but Ballydoyle are sportsmen and always send their best horses to the best races.

They were always leaning towards the Arc as an end-of-season target (he was favourite even before the Derby) and after Frankel was confirmed for the Champion Stakes the Longchamp deal may well have been sealed.

There are some meaningless stats about St Leger runners in the Arc and the coincidence-mongers will drag up the Nijinsky factor (the last Triple Crown winner in 1970 who was beaten in the Arc), but the truth of the matter is that no horse as good as Camelot has run in the St Leger for quite some time.

The way he won at Epsom suggests he should be capable of a 130 RPR and if he can break into the 130 club, he will be the one to beat at Longchamp. Orfevre (129) still looks the biggest danger.

Last year's Arc winner Danedream ran to an RPR of just 116 when winning at Baden-Baden on Sunday, but the pace was not as strong as she needs and she should be back in mid-120s territory next month.

Across the Atlantic, Emcee (123) posted the performance of the week with a four-and-a-half length win in the Grade 1 Forego Stakes at Saratoga on Saturday.

A strongly run 7f looks ideal for him, as he raced up with the decent early pace before staying on strongly in the straight to pull clear.

It was similar display to that in which Questing won by nine lengths in the Alabama Stakes at the same track a couple of weeks ago. The Godolphin US team are clearly flying.

To Honor And Serve took the big race of the night, the Woodward Stakes, with an RPR of 122, after seeing off a late challenge from Mucho Macho Man (121).

In Australia, Pierro (122) started his three-year-old campaign brightly with success in the Run To The Rose at Rosehill on Saturday. Gai Waterhouse's colt is unbeaten in seven starts.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Emcee 123 Kiaran McLaughlin (US) (Forego Stakes, Saratoga, 7f, Sept 1)

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