HIGHLIGHT of a fairly quiet week on the international scene was the San Diego Handicap success of Maximum Security at Del Mar on Saturday, a race he won by just a nose from Midcourt but while giving 5lb to his very smart rival and that and more to the well-beaten others.

This, along with his Saudi Cup win and an excellent three-year-old career in 2019, identifies Maximum Security as a 125-rated individual, behind only 129-rated Ghaiyyath globally on my figures among older horses beyond the minimum trip at present.

Higher level

Volatile is not as good but won a handicap at an even higher level in the Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt at Saratoga, a falsely run contest in which the finishing speed was above 100% for once on dirt. I have Volatile on 116, with runner-up Whitmore on 115. There are better sprinters around, though perhaps not many.

Barney Roy made rather heavy work of winning the Group 1 Grosser Dallmayr-Preis Bayerisches Zuchtrennen at Munich on Sunday, though a 114 rating is very close to his 115 maximum since returning from a stint at stud.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained Patrick Sarsfield reproduced his Meld Stakes-winning figure of 110 in finishing third; he and Barney Roy split by 113-rated local Quest The Moon.