THE Breeders’ Cup promises to be a spectacular climax to the international flat horse racing season this coming weekend, and there are still events like Hong Kong’s International Meeting in December to look forward to after that.

My ante-post Breeders’ Cup bets on Syndergaard in the Juvenile and Flintshire in the Turf are still very much alive and kicking, though I had not anticipated Found showing up against the latter.

But things have wound down on the level in Britain and Ireland, and now seems a good time to take stock of what has passed in 2016 from a time point of view.

The highest Timeform timefigure of the year in Britain and Ireland was the 129 recorded by Mecca’s Angel in her superb success in the Nunthorpe Stakes at York in August, the second year in a row in which she ran that fast in that particular race, though Michael Dods’ sprinter had to share top spot overall with Muhaarar in 2015.

Mecca’s Angel was pursued by Postponed (128 timefigure for win in International Stakes at York), Limato and Highland Reel (both 126). Highland Reel’s figure, gained when second in the International, was the best by an Irish-trained horse in either Britain or Ireland (Timeform does not officially publish timefigures from further afield).

The fastest timefigure on Irish soil came from Alice Springs (122) in winning the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown in September, on the same day on which Almanzor posted 120 in winning a notably classy Irish Champion Stakes.

Lady Aurelia was a standout among juveniles, with her blisteringly fast Queen Mary Stakes win at Royal Ascot equating to a 127 timefigure which has been surpassed by only two youngsters - Celtic Swing (138 in 1994) and Xaar (130 in 1997) - since the 1980s. Lady Aurelia’s subsequent times were nothing like so good, however, as she proved less effective at six furlongs.

The picture was less clear among the two-year-old males, with Blue Point a marginal leader on 118 as a result of his impressive Gimcrack win but beaten by The Last Lion and by Churchill (when finding the seventh furlong too much in the Dewhurst Stakes) subsequently.

Caravaggio (sidelined after early-August) and Churchill both ran 115 timefigures and can almost certainly go faster still. But the fact is that neither has yet quite run a time that you would hope to see from a champion sprinter or classic winner in the making.