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Workforce beyond the stars6th June 2010
Workforce has been given a higher rating than Sea The Stars at the equivalent stage last year following his sensational victory in the Investec Derby at Epsom.
The British Horseracing Authority's official handicappers were impressed by the seven-length romp of the Sir Michael Stoute-trained winner in a record time for the premier Classic, and have reacted accordingly.
"I have discussed the race with my colleague Chris Nash and independently we have come up the same figure, so we are pretty pleased with that," said the BHA's senior handicapper, Phil Smith.
"We have used Rewilding (third) as our marker. We've got him running to 115, and At First Sight (second) therefore is 116.
"We thought the winner won easily enough, but instead of calling it seven lengths we have called it eight.
"We work on one and half pounds per length over a mile and a half so he comes out a 12lb better horse than At First Sight, so it puts him on 128.
"That's very high for a Derby-winning performance.
"We've had Derby winners eventually get higher than that, obviously See The Stars last year - we put him on 124 (after the Derby) and it was more his Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes performances that saw him go higher.
"This is really high for a Derby winner at this stage.
"We had Authorized on 127 after he won it (in 2007) and he was a lot more impressive than Authorized was.
"My only little consideration is I suspect he will always be at his best when coming off a fast pace.
"I think the way the race was run was perfectly set up for him to show how good he was."
Ryan Moore streaks away from the field as Workforce wins the Derby at Epsom