An Early Look At The Cartier Horse Of The Year Awards

The flat season is well into the thick of things with some big Group 1 contests now been and gone but with plenty of feature contests still to take place we are going to have a look at the current standings for the Cartier Horse Of The Year.

Last year Roaring Lion went on a rampage of landing Group 1 victories to secure his Cartier Horse Of The Year status and this season leading the way is a horse who is doing very much the same.

English and Irish 1000 Guineas victor Hermosa leads the early standings with 80 points as the three year old has dominated the mile division for the fillies so far this season, landing back to back Group 1s and is currently unbeaten this year.

The Daughter of Galileo will have to keep her standards high with plenty of fillies and mostly colts right in behind her and looking to get to the top of the leaderboard.

Aidan O'Brien also takes second spot with the unbeaten Magical who has won three out of three this season and her latest Group 1 triumph at the Curragh in the Tatterstalls Gold Cup sees the four year old sat on 56 points.

Joint on the same amount of points is Andre Fabre's French Godolphin raider Persian King that fell short on Sunday at Chantilly when finishing second in the French Derby but before that had landed five races on the bounce including success in the Group 1 Poule d'Essai des Poulains.

The two Epsom Classic heroes from last weekend take up the next few spots with the Oaks winner Anapurna sat on 48 points after her superb win in the Fillies Group 1 and the Derby winner which gave Aidan O'Brien his seventh Success in the race sees Anthony Van Dyck locked in on the same amount of points.

Others worth a mention at this stage of the season are 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia on 48 points, Leading challenger in the sprint division Blue Point for Godolphin on 42 points and Epsom Coronation Cup winner Defoe sneaking in with 40 points for Roger Varian.

The certain divisions that horses can also challenge for at the Cartier Horse Of The Year awards looks very interesting at the moment with Hermosa currently dominating the three year old Fillies grouping but Anapurna still in the mix off the back of that Oaks victory.

Derby Winner Anthony Van Dyck surprisingly does not sit at the top of the three year colts division with Persian King currently on top having run once more already this season whilst Blue point comfortably leads the sprint division but with plenty of hot contests to come.

The stayers division, dominated by Stradivarius last season could have the same outcome come the end of the flat season but for the time being it is led by Prix Vicomtesse Vigier winner Called To The Bar who is two points ahead of the Mark Johnston trained Dee Ex Bee.

The Cartier Horse Of The Year awards are set to be held in London on November 12 and with plenty of top racing to come this season these whole standings could be flipped on its head.