St Mark's Basilica Rated as Europe's Top Juvenile

St Mark's Basilica was officially crowned Europe's best 2-year-old of 2020 Jan. 27 having achieved a rating of 120 in his Darley Dewhurst Stakes (G1) success, although that figure ranks as the third-lowest among juvenile champions in the history of the classifications.

The son of Siyouni is the seventh consecutive winner of the Dewhurst to top the 2-year-old ratings, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt being marked two pounds higher than joint-seconds Supremacy and Wembley.

The 120 rating is the joint-third lowest in the 42-year history of the classifications, equal to 1993 champion Grand Lodge.

Only in 2011, when Camelot and Dabirsim shared top honors, and Belardo in 2014 did a horse fail to reach a rating of at least 120 since the turn of the century.

St Mark's Basilica—bought for 1.3 million guineas (US$1,667,924) as a yearling and who is a half brother to QIPCO Two Thousand Guineas (G1) hero Magna Grecia—raced five times last season. He broke his maiden on the third try at the Curragh in August and finished a creditable third in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes (G1) before his career-defining Newmarket win under Frankie Dettori.

He becomes the 11th champion 2-year-old to be trained by O'Brien, a prize the trainer has regained after being denied in the last two years by top youngsters Pinatubo (128) and Too Darn Hot (126).

The Ballydoyle dominance on the rankings, however, is much decreased with only six horses last season rated 110 or higher; in the previous six seasons O'Brien had had at least 10 and in 2018 he trained 16 in that bracket.

Dewhurst 1-2 St Mark's Basilica and Wembley top the sextet, which also includes High Definition (115), Van Gogh (114), Battleground (112), and Mother Earth (111).

Battleground was second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Presented by Coolmore America (G1T) behind America's top grass juvenile, Fire At Will.

In the 2020 rankings, seven of the top 10 highest-rated 2-year-olds were trained in Ireland, with Joseph O'Brien's National Stakes hero Thunder Moon earning a rating of 117. Lucky Vega and Mac Swiney—for Jessica Harrington and Jim Bolger, respectively—posted ratings of 116.

The Clive Cox-trained Supremacy was named the leading British-trained juvenile scoring 118 with his hard-fought success in the Juddmonte Middle Park Stakes (G1). Godolphin's One Ruler (114) was the only other from Britain to make the top 10 with Alkumait, Chindit, Devilwala, and Gear Up marked at 113.

The Frederic Rossi-trained Sealiway is France's best juvenile, rated 115 for his Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere - Grand Criterium (G1) win. He was fifth in the Juvenile Turf.

Campanelle, Pretty Gorgeous, and Shale shared top honors in the fillies' category with ratings of 113. Campanelle, owned by Stonestreet Stables and trained by Wesley Ward, won the Darley Prix Morny - Finale des Darley Series (G1). She ran fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies Turf (G1T) in her final start at 2.

Pretty Gorgeous and Shale, for brothers Joseph and Donnacha O'Brien, faced each other four times during their juvenile campaigns with each coming out on top twice and striking at the top grade once.

The trio beat Juddmonte Cheveley Park Stakes (G1) heroine Alcohol Free (112) and Bet365 Fillies' Mile (G1) second Indigo Girl (112) while Mother Earth (111) was O'Brien's best juvenile filly in 2020.

Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board handicapper Mark Bird said: "In summary, 2020 couldn't be said to have been a vintage year for 2-year-olds. While numerically, the 44 horses that made the classifications are in line with recent averages, the truncated nature of the season and the slightly muddled nature of some of the form lines mean that the champion juveniles of the year rank at the lower end of the historical scale."

"St Mark's Basilica is the latest in a long line of European 2-year-old champions, dating back to Fasliyev in 1999, to emerge from the Aidan O'Brien academy.

"We rated his effort in landing the Darley Dewhurst Stakes as marginally the best form shown by a European 2-year-old in 2020 and just ahead of that shown by the 12 other group 1-winning 2-year-olds in Europe this year."