St Mark's Basilica named Europe's top juvenile but third lowest-rated in history

St Mark's Basilica was officially crowned Europe's best two-year-old of 2020 on Wednesday having achieved a rating of 120 in his Dewhurst Stakes 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 two-year-old ratings, the Aidan O'Brien-trained colt being marked 2lb 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 honours, 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 1,300,000gns as a yearling and who is a half-brother to 2,000 Guineas hero Magna Grecia – raced five times last season. He broke his maiden on the third try at the Curragh in August, finished a creditable third in the National Stakes before his career-defining Newmarket win under Frankie Dettori.

He becomes the 11th champion two-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 ten and in 2018 he trained 16 in that bracket.

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

In the 2020 rankings, seven of the top ten highest-rated two-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 – posted ratings of 116.

Supremacy: best British-trained two-year-old in 2020Credit: Edward Whitaker

The Clive Cox-trained Supremacy was named the leading British-trained juvenile scoring 118 with his hard-fought success in the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes. Godolphin's One Ruler (114) was the only other from Britain to make the top ten with Alkumait, Chindit, Devilwala and Gear Up marked at 113.

The Frederic Rossi-trained Sealiway is France's best juvenile, rated 115 for his Lagardere win.

Campanelle, Pretty Gorgeous and Shale shared top honours in the fillies' category with ratings of 113. The former, trained by Wesley Ward, won the Prix Morny at Group 1 level.

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

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

IHRB handicapper Mark Bird said: "In summary, 2020 couldn't be said to have been a vintage year for two-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 two-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 two-year-old in 2020 and just ahead of that shown by the 12 other Group 1-winning two-year-olds in Europe this year."

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