I CANNOT claim to have watched last weekend’s North American action when in reality I was holed up in some bar in central Paris, but it is (hopefully) not too difficult to make sense on paper of the more relevant results.

If there is a really good North American two-year-old around then I have missed it. The Grade 1 wins at the weekend for that age-group came from the filly British Idiom in the Alcibiades at Keeneland (113 rating), the colt Tiz The Law in the Champagne at Belmont (116), the colt Maxfield in the Futurity at Keeneland (116) and the filly Wicked Whisper in the Frizette at Belmont (109).

The divisional leaders are arguably the wide-margin winners Eight Rings (American Pharoah at Santa Anita last month) and Bast (Del Mar Debutante, but less convincing in victory at Santa Anita since), both provisionally rated 117 by me.

The US performance of the weekend among older horses probably came from Omaha Beach, who downed fellow three-year-old Shancelot by a head in the Santa Anita Sprint Championship on his first run in six months and at shorter than seven furlongs, running to 125.

Omaha Beach, who had beaten the subsequent Kentucky Derby winner (on a disqualification) Country House and fourth Improbable in the nine-furlongs Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn when last seen, has plenty of options, while Shancelot continues to cling onto a 129 figure from Saratoga in July.

Other Grade 1 wins came from Arklow in the Joe Hirsch Turf Classic at Belmont (119), Uni in the First Lady Stakes at Keeneland (120), Bowies Hero in the Shadwell Turf Mile at Keeneland (117, with British-trained Suedois confirming himself on 115 in a close third), Sistercharlie in the Flower Bowl Stakes at Belmont (119) and Blue Prize in the Spinster Stakes at Keeneland (116).

Jumps

The jumps season is emerging from hibernation for most of us, but there have already been some pretty strong performances, including a quartet of Graded wins in Ireland in the last week (a reminder that jumps figures operate on a level around 40 higher than the flat).

I have a figure of 160 on Snow Falcon for his defeat of Peregrine Run (151) and Us And Them (148) in the Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase at Gowran last Saturday and one of 152 on Davids Charm for a 12-length defeat of 136-rated Plinth in the Horse & Jockey Hotel Hurdle at Tipperary the following day.

Novices tend to operate at 10 or so lower than the best open horses, so Turnpike Trip’s 139-rated win in the Joe Mac Novice Hurdle and Robin de Carlow’s 137-rated win in the Like A Butterfly Novice Chase, both at Tipperary on Sunday, look better in that context.