Hurricane Lane the best Leger winner for a decade but Adayar sets Arc standard

The best thing to happen to Hurricane Lane's Arc chances on the weekend he won the St Leger was arguably Snowfall's defeat. His previous form, notably his wide-margin win in the Grand Prix de Paris, made him the standout candidate at Doncaster and he merely lived up to his billing in beating Mojo Star by two and three-quarter lengths.

Nonetheless, a performance rating of 122 for Hurricane Lane is still between 1lb and 2lb higher than the calculated race standard and it makes him the best-performing Leger winner since Masked Marvel in 2011. He was more superior than the bare result, coming from further back than many of the other principals in a race with a somewhat fast finish and, furthermore, William Buick never had to ask for ten-out-of-ten effort.

Should Hurricane Lane go for the Arc, he would do so with 3lb to find on Derby-winning stablemate Adayar (129), who has had the benefit of testing himself against some high-achieving older horses in the King George.