This rating has been used ever since as the benchmark which no other horse has ever got close to matching. The next horse in Timeform’s all-time list is Flyingbolt – Arkle’s stable companion – on 210, followed by Mill House on 191, where he now moves over on the all-time pecking order to make room for Kauto Star after his stunning display in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day. The reason why Timeform stands alone as the guide is because the racing authorities of the time were not set up to provide evidential ratings as they are now. “In those days the Jockey Club didn’t rate horses in exactly the way that we do now,” Smith pointed out. “And I just couldn’t believe that he could give some much weight to the likes of Kauto Star and Denman. And then someone said ‘so prove it’.”
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