Khaadem produces highest RPR on the way to landing back-to-back Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes

A good summary of the domestic sprinting scene among the older horses being thin on the ground came in the Queen Elizabeth II Jubilee Stakes, with the eight-year-old Khaadem becoming the first back-to-back winner since Right Boy in 1958-59, when the race went by the name of the Cork and Orrery Stakes. 

With Kinross a non-runner and Art Power disappointing, the de facto form standard was set by Mill Stream and Believing, who could both run just respectably in filling third and fourth. In beating the improved Swingalong (114) by half a length, Khaadem bettered last year’s winning performance by 2lb, running to a Racing Post Rating of 119, a figure that falls just under the ten-year average.

Between those Royal Ascot victories, Khaadem had fallen well short of that level; it’s arguable that he didn’t have his ideal conditions on any of those four occasions, although it also speaks to his overall record of inconsistency.