THE bad weather that plagued the previous weekend in Britain ensured that the weekend just gone had a bit more of interest than usual in terms of quality flat racing.

In particular, the Group 1 Vertem Futurity was rearranged to Friday night at Newcastle – the first race of that calibre to be run on an all-weather surface – and the Group 3 Horris Hill Stakes to Saturday afternoon at a still rain-soaked Newmarket.

The former went to Kameko from a trio of Aidan O’Brien-trained hopefuls, and the clock speaks highly of the winner’s effort in what was a strongly-run race. In coming more than three lengths clear, Kameko ran a 118 timefigure, the joint-fifth-best of the campaign behind Pinatubo.

Kameko looks more a Guineas horse than a Derby horse to me (and on striding), but the opposite may be true of runner-up Innisfree (109) and fourth-placed Mogul (108), who were split by the speedier Year of The Tiger (109). Kinross got messed around in fifth but failed to see out the stiff mile as well as had been anticipated.

The Horris Hill resulted in a pretty good time also, the unbeaten Kenzai Warrior returning a 110 figure in accounting gamely for long-standing maiden Ropey Guest (108) and Impressor (106).

That Newmarket card also saw listed wins for Born With Pride (101 on her debut) and the older horses Lord North (103, remains on 118) and Roseman (108, boosted to 115), all of whom look good prospects for 2020.

There were also other listed wins in the period under review by Scentasia and by Delphinia at Lingfield (both rated 97 on time), Mild Illusion at Newmarket (also 97), Surrounding at Dundalk (95), Warnaq at Naas (110) and Young Rascal at Kempton on Monday.

The last-named reportedly may be Hong Kong bound, having been sidelined for much of the season and gelded in the interim. His 111 timefigure here, raised to 117 on sectionals, suggests he’s very nearly as good as ever.