IT was generally felt before last weekend that the Tattersalls-backed Irish versions of the Guineas, with their betting headed by horses who had been beaten at Newmarket, would be weaker than the British ones. But, in the event, that might not have been the case, and in time terms there is certainly an argument to suggest the opposite.

Romanised’s win in the 2,000 Guineas on Saturday was a surprise, but his time was comfortably fastest of four at a mile on the card and equates to a timefigure of 121 in my book. That is the best by a three-year-old in Ireland and Britain so far this year, if only narrowly, and compares to a base figure of 117 by Saxon Warrior at Newmarket.

Interestingly, Gustav Klimt (113 timefigure in third here) was beaten almost exactly the same distance by Romanised as he had been by Saxon Warrior, while Elarqam (103 in this instance) was beaten a good deal further.

Romanised’s overall time was good, then, but the way in which he arrived at it was not straightforward, for he came from several lengths back and ran down front-running U S Navy Flag (115 timefigure) only late on.

Sectionals for the Irish 2000 are most revealing, for they suggest strongly that U S Navy Flag overdid things, with his finishing speed just 97.1% of his average race speed. Romanised is a pretty good horse, but U S Navy Flag may well be better, with a return to seven furlongs or perhaps a mile around a proper bend or two looking to be what he needs.

ALPHA

Alpha Centauri managed to run the Curragh mile 0.22s faster 24 hours later, though conditions seemed around 8lb quicker by then anyway. Nonetheless, the filly put a good overall time – equivalent to a 116 timefigure (one higher than Billesdon Brook at Newmarket) – and substantially better than the all-aged handicap which followed it.

Runner-up Could It Be Love was the rabbit this time, and overdid it slightly (99.7% finishing speed), but still registered a 111 timefigure.

However, Alpha Centauri still deserves more credit in coming from well back (105.6% finishing speed), and there is no good reason I can see why she is not favourite for the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot, for all that some of the beaten fillies in the French version could also be expected to go well in that.

Both Happily (110 timefigure) and Soliloquy (106) were beaten a bit further than they had been at Newmarket, though the former once again shaped like a 10 or 12-furlong filly.

Before moving on from the classics, it is worth acknowledging that one other timing authority has some remarkably low figures on the winners of the two races.

I would suggest that if that is the case with high-class performers in strongly-run races (as sectionals show these were) there may be something wrong with the methodology.

Lancaster Bomber’s time in winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup was a highly respectable 118, but a less-than-exacting middle section of the race left Cliffs Of Moher (114) and Defoe (111) a bit too far out of their ground behind the all-the-way winner, and this was probably not quite as good an effort as it looks on paper.