Following Darkness Falls’ Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes victory, Timeform have described the son of Camelot as a ‘perfectly viable Triple Crown contender’.
Darkness Falls impresses in the Dewhurst Stakes
Aidan O’Brien’s colt earned a rating of 119p after winning the seven-furlong contest. He narrowly beat Godolphin’s Desert Castle, whose rating has risen to 118p.
The result puts Darkness Falls at the top of this season’s two-year-old colts. He is rated just 1lb below his stablemate Sun Goddess. He also heads the ante-post betting for the 2000 Guineas, the Derby and the St Leger.
Triple Crown hopes grow
Attention quickly turned to Darkness Falls’ chance of completing the Triple Crown. No horse has achieved the feat since Nijinsky in 1970.
Such an achievement would be fitting for the colt. He is a son of Camelot, who came close to winning the Triple Crown in 2012. However, Encke denied Camelot victory in the St Leger.
Room for further improvement
Darkness Falls could still improve, as indicated by the small ‘p’ beside his Timeform rating. His 119p Dewhurst performance matches the rating achieved by last year’s ill-fated winner, Gewan.
However, the figure remains 8lb below City Of Troy’s rating of 127. City Of Troy won the race in 2023 and remains the highest-rated Dewhurst winner of this century.
Timeform analyst backs Triple Crown contender
Timeform’s Lead Flat Analyst David Johnson said: “Having come so close to a Triple Crown with Camelot in 2012, a few pretenders have come and gone since.
“At this stage, Darkness Falls looks a perfectly viable contender to become the first horse to emulate Nijinsky and become only the second horse in almost 100 years to achieve the Triple Crown of Guineas, Derby and St Leger, as he heads into the winter rightfully at the head of the market for the first two.”
