GSTAAD’S performance in the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot was the joint-best in that race since Arizona won it for the same connections in 2019, according to the official handicappers.

As the first nursery of the season approaches, this week the IHRB handicapping team published ratings for just over 50 two-year-olds. Just six have earned ratings of 100 or more, and five of those raced at Royal Ascot.

In winning the Coventry by three lengths, Gstaad earned a rating of 114. That is the same mark given to Bradsell after the 2022 Coventry and he went on to win three Group 1 races.

The highest rated Coventry winner in recent years was War Command (117) in 2013. Over the past 30 years the highest-rated Coventry Stakes winner was Fasliyev (119) in 1999. The average rating for the Coventry winner is 112.

Senior flat handicapper Garry O’Gorman said: “A rating of 114 is high for a Coventry Stakes winner though it should be noted that Gstaad’s figure is subject to change as the form develops this year.”

Charles Darwin, winner of the Norfolk Stakes, is next on the list on 110. The top-rated two-year-old filly so far this season is True Love (105), winner of the Queen Mary Stakes. All three are trained by Aidan O’Brien.

Power Blue, trained by Adrian Murray and fifth in the Coventry Stakes, is rated 103, as is Joseph O’Brien’s Coventry fourth Andab.

Both of those horses had previously finished behind Albert Einstein in the Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh but the handicappers have not published a rating for that unbeaten colt yet. O’Gorman explained: “Gstaad would be higher than Albert Einstein because he had the opportunity race against a big field of talented two-year-olds. Albert Einstein only had to run to 108 to win the Marble Hill but I wouldn’t like to let him into a handicap off that mark.

“The key point to make is that you can only be rated on what you have beaten. Gstaad won a red-hot Coventry. It was a really good opportunity to do a good rating. If the horses behind you are limited then you don’t get to show your full hand and you don’t get a high rating.

“That was the frustration with Kyprios. He was a brilliant racehorse and I would have loved to see him run in an Arc, because none of the stayers he raced against were able to show how good he was. We never found out how much was in the locker.”

IRISH 2YO RATINGS

GSTAAD 114

CHARLES DARWIN 110

TRUE LOVE 105

ANDAB 103

POWER BLUE 103

LADY IMAN 100

Recent Coventry Stakes winners

2013: WAR COMMAND (117)

2016: CARAVAGGIO (116)

2012: DAWN APPROACH ( 115)

2014: THE WOW SIGNAL (115)

2018: CALYX (115)

2022: BRADSELL (114)