Champions Day: what it takes to win

Darley Champions Sprint (1200m)

The final day of the Flemington carnival sees an outstanding trio of Group 1 races with the Darley Champions Sprint (1200m), VRC Champions Mile (1600m) and TAB Champions Stakes (2000m) all full of Group 1 stars.

The rebranding of Stakes Day has worked beautifully, and we’ll see some of the highest rated racehorses in the world compete. Using Racing and Sports ratings, we can compare these fields to the winning ratings in years gone by to see who holds a rating that wins a typical edition of their race.

Stating with the Group 1 Darley Champions Sprint (1200m), we see superstar dual winner Nature Strip rated to 130 topping the list and while no horse this year is quite up to him, there are numerous horses around the mark.

Giga Kick is the highest rated horse at his best having run to 126 in his Group 1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) win in April last year while also having run to 125 twice. He ran to 122 last start in The Everest (1200m) behind Bella Nipotina and is a winner down the straight.

Bella Nipotina brings the highest last start rating into this field having run to her peak rating of 123 at her past two outings. Her best rating down the Flemington straight however is 118 which won’t be good enough to win this race, but she’s in career best form.

Overpass is the next highest rated having run to a new peak of 122 last time out, and he too has won down the straight.

VRC Champions Mile (1600m)

We move over to the Group 1 VRC Champions Mile (1600m) which sees one of the best fields assembled this year, with a plethora of Group 1 quality horses lining up.

The historical winning rating for this race needs some context, as it has only been at weight-for-age level the past two years, formerly a handicap and run on Penfolds Victoria Derby Day.

Pride Of Jenni really announced herself with a big 125 rating win last year while Alligator Blood ran to 120 in the inaugural Champions Mile. 

This year, we have numerous horses rated above that 120 mark which will likely be the bare minimum rating required to win with the winning standard likely to be around the 123 mark.

Pride Of Jenni holds a peak rating of 129 when winning the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes (2000m) by 6.5 lengths in the Autumn. Her best rating this campaign was 126 in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m).

Fangirl just holds the next-best career peak with Racing And Sports at 125 although her best rating this campaign is 119.

Mr Brightside holds a peak RAS rating of 124 and has run 120 or above on 14 occasions.

Antino ran a big new peak of 124 last start with a breathtaking win in the Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) while a host of others have ratings around the 120 mark that can be competitive.

TAB Champions Stakes (2000m)

Over to the Group 1 TAB Champions Stakes (2000m) where we’ve saved the best and highest rated horse until last. Looking at the past ten years, we see Arcadia Queen top the list of winners at 124 on the RAS ratings.

This year, Via Sistina comes in as clearly the highest rated horse having run to an enormous rating of 132 in her breathtaking eight length Group 1 W.S Cox Plate (2040m) win.

To put that into context, Winx won her four Cox Plates in ratings of 133, 134, 127 and 129.

Anything like her Cox Plate performance will surely win on Saturday, and her win in the Group 1 TAB Turnbull Stakes (2000m), rating 124, is also right up to the likes of Arcadia Queen and likely wins this race more often than not.

The only other horse in this field with that’s shown that sort of level is Without A Fight who ran to 124 twice when completing the Cups double last year, although he is off a long spell due to injury.

Duke De Sessa and Royal Champion both hold peak RAS ratings of 121 while Atishu ran to a career peak of 120 to win this race last year.