Field of Gold isn't overrated

Last week's loss to Opera Ballo has triggered another wave of "overrated" takes about Field of Gold. It's nonsense — and it points to one of the saddest trends in modern flat racing.

Full sheets for all horses mentioned is attached. I ranked every horse that raced on UK and Irish tracks as a three-year-old between 2022 and 2025 by the average of their top three MWP ratings. The top of that list:

• Paddington (2023) — 150.83
• Field of Gold (2025) — 150.67
• City of Troy (2024) — 150.50
• Calandagan (2024) — 149.53
• Luxembourg (2022) — 147.13

Field of Gold's four-year-old campaign has only just begun. Of the four other elite three-year-olds on this list, only two raced on as four-year-olds. Paddington was retired through injury, and City of Troy was sent to stud.

What happened to the two who did race on?

• Calandagan: 149.53 → 152.70 (+3.17)
• Luxembourg: 147.13 → 151.00 (+3.87)

Both improved by roughly two to three lengths.And remember — these numbers are based on UK and Irish form only. Calandagan did even more abroad: a stunning Japan Cup performance, and the Dubai Sheema Classic this spring. Maybe we'll get to see Field of Gold take a trip overseas too. That would be something. But the fact is, when looking at just the 3 fastest races in a 3yo-season:

Of every UK/IRE three-year-old over the last five years who has actually raced on as a four-year-old, Field of Gold is the fastest.

Credit to his connections for giving him the chance to step in among the true greats. That is exactly what the sport needs more of — and exactly what the British "overrated" chorus is killing. Every wave of unreasonable expectation aimed at a brilliant young colt is one more reason his owners decide it isn't worth the risk, and ship him off to the breeding shed instead. The short-sighted punters complaining loudest are the ones driving the trend they pretend to lament.

Will Field of Gold improve another two or three lengths the way Calandagan and Luxembourg did?

We'll see.

The four-year-old season is the hardest test in flat racing — older horses, longer trips, deeper fields, every race a Group race. Very few colts come through it unscathed, and the early defeats are part of the journey, not evidence against it. If anything, those early losses are what will give you some value on him at Ascot.

But here is what we should be saying louder, every time another brilliant colt is whisked off to the breeding shed before his time: any horse that races on as a four-year-old to face the best, and to genuinely earn his stud fee, deserves our respect — win or lose. Paddington and City of Troy were exceptional talents. Neither got the chance to show us they were truly great.

So, Field of Gold lost a race.

That's what can happen when you race on.

Let's cheer him on.

Racing sure needs him to do well.

To conclude I will share the sheets for all horses mentioned: