THE front-loading of the Ebor Festival in elite group-race terms meant that Saturday’s card featured nothing higher than a Group 3, though the wins of the Sussex Stakes second and third, Expert Eye and Lord Glitters, in the City Of York Stakes and Strensall Stakes would not have been out of place in Group 2s.

Neither race was run at a flat-out gallop, and Lord Glitters’ basic timefigure of 111 gets boosted to 119 on sectionals and Expert Eye’s 117 goes up to 121. They are both still behind the Sussex Stakes winner Lightning Spear on 124.

The Sussex Stakes fifth, Beat The Bank, did his bit for the form of that race on the same day, also, posting a 117 timefigure in coming out on top in a close finish to the Celebration Mile at Goodwood.

COURSE RECORD

Conditions had quickened somewhat at York by the weekend, and that was reflected in successive course records in the Melrose Handicap and the Ebor Handicap itself, assisted by those races being run on the innermost line.

Ghostwatch posted 2m 53.87s in the former, while the official timing mechanism failed for the Ebor but Muntahaa can be credited with 2m 53.60s (and not the hand time that has been widely published) according to sophisticated video analysis.

There is precious little between the two, once weight carried and weight-for-age has been taken into account, with Ghostwatch nearer to what might be expected for a race winner on 104 than Muntahaa was on 105. Sectionals confirm that 103-rated Supernova was an unlucky loser in the Melrose.

Elsewhere on Saturday, there were Group 3 wins for the Ralph Beckett-trained Antonia De Vega (87 timefigure) in the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood in which the leaders seemed to press on a bit too far out, for Maid Up (94) in the three-runner March Stakes at the same course and for Fabricate (68) in a slowly run Winter Hill Stakes at Windsor.

Listed races went the way of Limato (109) at Newmarket and Desert Encounter (just 56 in a sprint finish to an 11.45 furlong contest) at Windsor.

Limato was nearly 1.0s slower than the opening two-year-old maiden winner Jash, trained by Simon Crisford, but there was heavy rain in the middle of the card which needs to be factored in. Nonetheless, Jash was very fast and gets a timefigure of 102 raised to 108 on sectionals; he looks group-race standard.

A similar remark applies to the Sir Michael Stoute-trained Kingman colt Sangarius, who won a novice, also at Newmarket, most impressively on his debut. Sangarius’ 87 basic timefigure goes all the way up to 104 on the back of a 34.0s final three furlongs, and runner-up Bangkok gets 86, bumped up to 97, and looks a banker for a similar race or maiden.

Kuwait Currency ran a decidedly useful 109 figure when winning a listed contest at Salisbury and understandably now seems likely to be lined up for group races.