Warrior fails to battle on but Lion roars loudest for class of 2018

The Classics kicked off with a taking performance from Saxon Warrior to win the Qipco 2,000 Guineas, one that promised much for the future as he looked sure to progress again from the Racing Post Rating of 122+ he achieved at Newmarket.

Odds-on for the Derby post-race, it would have been hard to envisage that he would neither win another race, nor prove the best horse in the Guineas field. Yet two months later the Guineas fifth Roaring Lion would confirm the form reversal from the Derby in justifying favouritism for the Coral-Eclipse, en route to a Juddmonte International success which secured him top billing among this year's three-year-olds with an RPR of 127.

Saxon Warrior's 2,000 Guineas figure falls a length below the race standard RPR of 124, partly as a consequence of a relatively compressed finish with the first six separated by less than four lengths, against a more typical six for the race. His mark of 122 is in line with recent winners of the race though, matching that of Churchill last year and 1lb superior to Galileo Gold's 2016 success.