Paynter: improved on his Belmont Stakes run when taking the Haskell

  PICTURE: Jessie Holmes/EquiSport Photos  

Paynter joins big three
with Haskell success

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

WITH the best of the Classic crop out of action there was an opportunity for the rest of the crop to show what they could do in America this weekend.

I'll Have Another and Union Rags, responsible for winning all three Classics this year, have been retired with tendon injuries, while dual-Classic runner-up Bodemeister was out with a fever.

This left three major three-year-old events (the Amsterdam Stakes, the Jim Dandy and the Haskell Invitational) open to the next band of US talent.

I'll Have Another and Union Rags are at the top of every piece of collateral form in the three-year-old division and Bodemeister looked like the only one capable of running with them.

With those three out it looked like the best any horse could hope for this weekend was to jump into the number four slot, but Paynter went one step further and joined them.

Paynter made most of the running in the Belmont Stakes before being collared late on by Union Rags, posting an RPR of 122, but the lightly raced colt improved on that effort in the Haskell Invitational on Sunday.

Bob Baffert's colt was the highest-rated three-year-old outside the big three going into the weekend and after posting a cosy three-and-three-quarter length win in the Grade 1 at Monmouth he now ranks alongside Union Rags with a peak RPR of 123.

Paynter heads next to the Travers and he looks the biggest challenger to stablemate Bodemeister in the battle for three-year-old supremacy in the second half of the season.

The Jim Dandy also threw up a worthy winner - despite the absence of the big three - with Alpha continuing the progression he showed before the Kentucky Derby by posting an RPR of 120.

He made most of the running at a sloppy Saratoga and the time wasn't great, but he looked full value for the winning margin of two-lengths.

The Amsterdam Stakes wasn't quite up to the standard of recent renewals (Currency Swap winning with a 112), but that comes down to the law of averages when three top three-year-old races are run on the same weekend.

In recent years the Amsterdam has been won by the likes of Caleb's Posse (2011) and Quality Road (2009), the Haskell Invitational has gone to Lookin At Lucky (2010), Rachel Alexandra (2009) and Big Brown (2008) and the Jim Dandy has been won by Street Sense (2007) and Bernardini (2006).

It isn't often that two big name winners come out of these three races in the same year. This year it might be none. Or maybe one: Paynter.

This weekend is normally an important part of the season in the US; when the Classic form is put to the test against the later maturing types, or those who missed the early season. But without the best horses from the Classics it is hard to be overly positive on the form.

The best performance in the world this week came on the Polytrack at Del Mar, where Amazombie (125) landed the Bing Crosby Stakes.

The race was billed as a showdown between Amazombie and The Factor, but Bill Spawr's gelding came out much the best, sweeping past his rival to score by a tidy length-and-a-quarter.

Spawr thinks the six-year-old has strengthened this year and the figures suggest he has improved since last term. Next up is the Santa Anita Sprint Championship (formerly the Ancient Title), then he bids to retain his Breeders' Cup Sprint crown, also at Santa Anita.

The highest figure in Europe this week went to Deutsches Derby winner Pastorius, who blitzed the field in the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Pries by an impressive eight lengths.

A winning RPR of 122 means he slips into the sizeable void behind Camelot (128) in the three-year-old division, ranking as the second best of his generation in Europe. He also ranks joint-second on the global turf three-year-old list alongside Japan's Gold Ship.

TOP OF THE CLASS: Amazombie 125 Bill Spawr (US) (Bing Crosby Stakes, Del Mar, 6f, July 30)

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