IT is sadly often the case that when a race is built up as “the race of the year” (or of the decade, or of the century) it fails to deliver. “The two-year-old race of the year,” certainly seemed justified in the build-up to last Saturday’s Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes. There was no Pinatubo – on 130 my highest-rated juvenile in recent years – but there were unbeaten performers from Ireland (Siskin), France (Earthlight) and Britain (Mums Tipple) vying for favouritism, plus several other very useful types.

In the event, Siskin did not show – withdrawn after getting upset in the stalls – and Mums Tipple might as well not have, fading tamely and found to have been lame. But Earthlight did get the job done, albeit by just a neck from Golden Horde, with rank outsiders Summer Sands and King Neptune close up.

Never mind “race of the year”, this was arguably not even Earthlight’s best performance, with his Prix Morny win from Raffle Prize and Golden Horde coming in at 119.

The clock backs that up, as his winning time – while a two-year-old course record at 1m 09.31s – was only 0.08s (half a length) quicker than the previous one, set 35 minutes earlier by Millisle in the Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes.

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The respective sectionals for the two Newmarket races were similar (Earthlight 33.39s second half, compared to Millisle’s 33.84s), but with Earthlight getting a slightly bigger upgrade. The resulting sectional ratings are 115 for Earthlight and 112 for Millisle, with Golden Horde running to his previous best of 114, and Summer Sands and King Neptune to a much improved 107 and 105 respectively.

Behind the last-named, it is likely that nothing ran to its very best, with Threat (104 here, compared to 111 previously) and Lope Y Fernandez (102/110) both seeming to be found out by six furlongs under such fast conditions, with a significant tailwind on what must have been drying ground.

That is not to belittle Earthlight, who looks to have an exemplary attitude as well as very smart ability, but it is entirely possible that he is a sprinter, and that this race played to his strengths, despite suggestions to the contrary by his trainer.

The Cheveley Park takes a bit more unravelling in terms of sectional timing, as hidden in there is a rather tepid opening furlong then two notably fast ones (10.85s then 10.45s according to video). This may well explain why Raffle Prize, who was up with that pace, capitulated late on, running about 9lbs (just over two lengths) below her previous best as a result.

That is not to take anything away from Millisle, who herself had paid for doing just a bit too much too soon at Salisbury the time before. Raffle Prize may be slightly better than her overall, but Millisle looks the more likely to stay seven furlongs, and probably a mile.

It is also worth noting that the French-trained Tropbeau (107 here), who ran in a similar style to Millisle, would probably have been second but for getting stopped in her run late on.