THE two-year-old highlight of York is usually the Gimcrack Stakes, or the Lowther Stakes, or possibly the Acomb Stakes (covered last week). But this was no ordinary Ebor meeting in that respect, as became apparent at around 2.30pm on Thursday afternoon, which is when Mums Tipple stormed to an 11-length success in the Goffs UK Premier Yearling Stakes.

His opposition might not have been especially good, but they were large in number – 20 of them in all – and each and every one of them was given a thrashing.

When something looks too good to be true, it is always worth looking to see what the evidence of the clock says; you may be able to fool subjective interpretation, but time does not lie (at least in theory).

The time was sensationally quick: 1.42s (over eight lengths) quicker than that recorded by Living In The Past when winning the Lowther Stakes earlier on the card and 0.30s (about two lengths) quicker than recorded by Threat in the Gimcrack Stakes on almost identical ground the following day. Both those carried 5lb sless than Mums Tipple into the bargain.

Superior colt

Sectionals show that some of Mums Tipple’s rivals paid for trying to match strides with what is clearly a far superior colt, and that some of the margins were exaggerated as a result, but it was marginal. On this day, under these conditions, Mums Tipple was scarily good.

I have a timefigure of 123 on Mums Tipple, with no sectional upgrade (his own splits were very close to par at 34.22s and 101.3% finishing speed), which is Group 1 standard for a two-year-old. Nothing else in the race got higher than 80.

Faster

It just so happens that two juveniles have already run even faster this campaign, in what could turn out to be a vintage season for the age group. Pinatubo is on 128 after his Goodwood win and Earthlight is on 124 (upped a bit from my original assessment) after his success at Deauville. Heady stuff, indeed!

One consequence is that the Lowther Stakes ratings are decidedly substandard. Living In The Past receives a figure of just 87 (where about 20 higher would be normal) and Liberty Beach gets 84, despite having run a 105 with something to spare previously. Perhaps this puzzle will become clearer in time.

Threat’s win in the Gimcrack Stakes is more what one would expect, on 111 (compared to 112 at Goodwood), with his form tying in with Golden Horde’s and therefore Earthlight’s. Runner-up Lord Of The Lodge posted a new best 107 figure.

Performances

A couple of other winning two-year-olds in Britain need a mention, also. Both Boomer and Alligator Alley ran 103 figures (latter slightly upgraded for sectionals) when turning in up-to-scratch performances in the Prestige Stakes at Goodwood and a listed race at York respectively.

In the meantime, the Curragh’s evening meeting last Friday week provided plenty of food for thought, with Alpine Star, winner of the Debutante Stakes, running 0.95s (about six lengths) faster overall and 0.39s faster for the final three furlongs than Armory, winner of the Galileo Irish EBF Futurity Stakes just half an hour later.

That probably does something of a disservice to the latter, who carried 3lbs more and managed to overcome a real stop-start gallop but the edge has to be given to the filly over the colt in this instance.

Alpine Star, who showed a fine battling attitude to deny Petite Mustique on the nod, can be rated 108 (the pair joint-fourth-best juvenile fillies seen in Ireland and Britain so far), while Armory comes out at 107 after some adjustment for those sectionals. The latter could really do with some of those close behind him upholding, or even boosting, the form in the future.