Hawk Wing has been given a rating second only to Dancing Brave in recent times after his performance in the Juddmonte Lockinge Stakes at the weekend.
A figure of 137 was arrived at after discussions between Turf Club handicapper Garry O'Gorman and his BHB counterpart Dominic Gardiner-Hill, although that will not be ratified until the International Classifications conference.
Gardiner-Hill told the Racing Post: 'We've decided on 137, which is obviously pretty high. It's a very difficult race about which to be certain. You can't deny the fact that he was impressive, but you have a slight worry when possibly only one of opponents ran his race. Mathematically, it could be as good as anything we've seen and I think it would be wrong to crab the form.'
Dancing Brave was rated 141 after he won the 2000 Guineas, Eclipse, King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 1986, while Hawk Wing is the highest rated miler since El Gran Senor achieved a mark of 138 in 1984.
Filed by James McMahon
