Time Form rate Cracksman

Higher than Enable, do you agree?

If they meet in next years Arc I would back Cracksman.

Very Impressive Horse - Nice to have a SA Connection in its Owner .

“Frankie will have to
choose one day!”
THE owner of Cracksman, brilliant seven-length
winner of Saturday’s Qipco Champion Stakes at
Ascot, says he is relishing a clash next year with the
colt’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winning
stablemate Enable.
Anthony Oppenheimer said the King George VI &
Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot in July and the
Arc at Longchamp in October would be the main
2018 targets for his John Gosden-trained son of
Frankel.
Oppenheimer had previously stated that his
decision not to run Cracksman in this season’s Arc
had in part been influenced by the fact Frankie
Dettori would have chosen to ride five-time Group
One filly Enable.
But after Cracksman came of age and landed his
first Group One prize on Saturday, Oppenheimer
said he was open to other jockeys partnering his
Derby third should Dettori jump ship.
Oppenheimer said: “It’s up to Frankie, he will have
to choose one day! Frankie has steered him
brilliantly but now we know how good Cracksman
is I would be quite confident with many other
British jockeys.
“I certainly have my eye on one or two other riders.
I would definitely relish a race against Enable. They
both go on the same ground and it will be very
exciting.
“I would think our targets next season will be the
King George followed by the Arc. What we do
before the King George I don’t know. I am not
terribly keen on the Coronation Cup but I haven’t
told Mr Gosden yet! I watched in the Derby and
Cracksman found it very difficult to go down the
Epsom hill. I think it cramps his style a bit.”
Oppenheimer’s breeding operation has now
produced two top champions in two years following
2015 Derby and Arc winner Golden Horn.
Cracksman is the first offspring of Frankel to win a
Group One race in Europe. The unbeaten wonder
horse successfully signed off his career in 2012 in
the same race.
Oppenheimer can also look forward to racing a
sister of Cracksman. His dam Rhadegunda is
carrying a filly foal sired by Frankel.—
First published in the Daily Mail, UK

Cracksman tops Enable on BHA ratings with performance of the year
BY GRAHAM DENCH 6:39PM 24 OCT 2017
Cracksman versus Enable was already the most keenly anticipated clash of 2018. Now expectancy has been heightened still further by the release of the BHA's latest ratings for the pair.

By handicapper Dominic Gardiner-Hill's calculations, Cracksman's seven-length demolition job in Saturday's British Champion Stakes was the best performance seen anywhere in Europe this year, surpassing even Enable's superb two-and-a-half length Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe defeat of Cloth Of Stars and Ulysses.

Echoing closely the calculations of Racing Post handicapper Paul Curtis, Gardiner-Hill has awarded Cracksman a mark of 130, 2lb higher than Enable.

However if - or hopefully when - the stablemates meet on the racecourse there will be a significant sex allowance to take into account. It is 3lb in the King George and 1.5 kilos, or 3.3lb, in the Arc, which on paper is enough to tip the scales back in Enable's favour.

Gardiner-Hill, who pointed out that his figures are subject to ratification by an international panel meeting in Hong Kong in December, argued: "With due respect to his stable companion Enable, and notwithstanding the decisions of the World's Best Racehorse Ranking Committee, it is my belief that Cracksman put up the best performance we have seen in Europe this year.

"Visually his seven lengths success was extremely impressive. The fact he ran the fastest final furlong of the afternoon confirms the merit of the performance and I have raised his mark 8lb from 122 to 130."

Gardiner-Hill's calculations are pinned principally on the French-trained fourth Recoletos and allow for both the second and third having run significantly below their best, but for which Cracksman might have been rated still higher. However, he is prepared to see even better from Enable at four.

He said: "For those who believe Cracksman's mark to be a slight on Enable I believe it's worth pointing out these figures are a measure of performance, rather than a measure of the inherent ability of the horse.

"The truth is nobody knows how good Enable is; she just keeps winning. By the same token we don't know the limits of Cracksman's ability at the present time.

"It's my opinion that the latter's performance on Saturday was better than her efforts in winning both the King George and the Arc. Do bear in mind, though, that she received the sex allowance in both races."

Betway make Enable 4-6 to get the better of her stablemate if they meet in next season's King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes, with Cracksman priced at 6-5. They also expect Dettori to retain the partnership with the Arc heroine, making him 1-2 to ride her and 6-4 to side with Cracksman.

Why is Cracksman rated superior to the awesome Enable?
BY RICHARD HUGHES3:42PM 27 OCT 2017
Richard Hughes - Flat trainer, former champion jockey and Racing Post columnist - has taken issue with the decision to rate Champion Stakes winner Cracksman above stablemate Enable, this year's star three-year-old filly and sensational Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner. Here are his views . . .

I had my doubts about Cracksman's claims to be favourite for the Qipco Champion Stakes, but he answered them in the best style imaginable.

I didn't fancy him, yet he was brilliant on the day. It looked like the Cracksman who won the Prix Niel and the Cracksman who landed the Champion Stakes were two different horses. It was great to watch, and nice to see a Frankel improve with age.

Having said all that, I do think people are getting carried away with the hype about a clash between Cracksman and Enable next year, and I am very surprised to see him rated superior to the filly on both BHA and Racing Post ratings.

What did Cracksman beat at Ascot? Ulysses wasn't in the race, Barney Roy didn't like the ground, and the runner-up Poet's Word's best win has come in Group 3 company.

I don't want to take anything away from Cracksman, but he was beaten in what was widely considered to be the worst Derby in years whereas Enable has won five Group 1s this year, culminating in the Arc.

If he had done, then surely John Gosden would have been keen for the horse to take his chance in the Arc.

Ultimately that was a very good trainer's decision not to run at Chantilly. He dodged the Arc with Cracksman, won it with Enable, and got to lift the Champion Stakes with Cracksman.

It has been a joy to see Enable improve all year and watch what John does best. I can't wait to see both of them next year.

Some of the other results on Champions Day were far less fathomable, which is always a problem when you run championship races at the end of the year on very soft ground.

People tend to forget that soft ground at York, Haydock and Ascot are three completely different surfaces.

I liken it to playing golf at St Andrews and Wentworth, where the ball reacts totally differently at each course on the soft-ground fairways.

Ascot's sand-based track is totally different to the black soil at Haydock, and some horses - many of whom have excelled on fast ground all summer - were unable to cope with the conditions.