The five time Group One winning superstar St Mark's Basilica retains his stance at the top of the Cartier Horse Of The Year Awards after a superb, gritty performance in the Irish Champion Stakes which saw him land his fifth straight black type race in a row.
At the end of his juvenile career he truly showed just how good he can be when taking the Group One Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket, having finished a close third in the Vincent O'Brien National Stakes before.
This season he picked up from where he left off by taking the Group One French 2000 Guineas on seasonal debut and then at the start of June on his first try at an extended trip he took to it superbly to land the French Derby.
Staying at 1m2f he took on superstars Addeybb and Mishriff in the Coral Eclipse and blew them away, taking the Group One by close to four lengths.
What a race!
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 11, 2021
St Mark's Basilica proves best in a thrilling €1m Irish Champion Stakes 👏@LeopardstownRC | @IrishChampsWknd | #LICW21 pic.twitter.com/P5BHxiuSdB
In another small runner affair at the weekend the star of this season, although drifting over to Tarnawa and causing a stewards' enquiry, went on to land the Irish Champion Stakes and increase his chance of being named the Cartier Horse Of The Year.
On a tally of 160 his closest competition comes from the John Gosden trained Palace Pier who looks the best miler seen for a while, but hot on their heels is the Irish Derby, Grand Prix de Paris and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane, who sits on 140 after his superb display at the weekend.
Oaks and Irish Oaks winner Snowfall sits on 136 after her defeat in the Group One Prix Vermeille, but still remains the top three-year-old filly.
The Cartier Award winners are determined by a mash up of points earned by horses in Pattern races across the season plus the end-of-season opinions of a panel of racing journalists/handicappers and votes from readers of the Racing Post and The Daily Telegraph.
The prestigious awards have been running since 1991 and the 31st annual awards will be presented in November this term.