Camelot’s Ladbrokes St Leger run five pounds below his best

Disappointment for Camelot, pictured here shortly before the start of Saturday’s Ladbrokes St Leger, as he failed in his historic Triple Crown bid. Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Camelot ran five pounds below his best in the Ladbrokes St Leger according to the official BHA ratings for the race.

He has been given a rating of 119 for Saturday’s performance, the same as he registered in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas over a mile at Newmarket in May.

The previously unbeaten Aidan O’Brien-trained colt, who was attempting to become the first Triple Crown winner for 42 years, got to within three-quarters of a length of the winner, Encke, who was given a career-best rating of 120, up from his previous best of 112.

After a slow early pace over the extended mile and three-quarters trip at Doncaster, Camelot failed to find the acceleration that he had shown when running away with the mile and a half Investec Derby at Epsom in June.

On that occasion he registered his career-best performance rating of 124.

As well as having put up the second best performance in a Long Distance race in the QIPCO British Champions Series this season, Camelot has achieved the third best Mile performance so far (behind Frankel and Excelebration) and the joint fourth-best Middle Distance performance (behind Frankel, So You Think and Nathaniel and tied with Farhh and St Nicholas Abbey).

Encke now heads the Long Distance performance table from Camelot with the Gold Cup winner, Colour Vision, who ran below his best in Friday’s Stobart Doncaster Cup, in third on 117.

The Stobart Doncaster Cup winner, Times Up, ran a pound below his Weatherbys Insurance Lonsdale Cup mark last month, being given 113 for Friday’s victory as opposed to 114 at York.

Runner-up, High Jinx, ran to the same 111 rating in both races.

Camelot’s second place on Saturday enabled both Aidan and Joseph O’Brien to increase their leads in the Trainer and Jockey of the Series tables with six races to go – the Nayef Joes Stakes in the mile category at Newmarket on Friday 28 September and the five category finales on QIPCO British Champions Day at Ascot on Saturday 20 October.

To view the QIPCO British Champions tables for the horses, trainers and jockeys, CLICK HERE.