Darley’s Perfect Power may be about to embark on his second career in the covering shed, but he has been awarded one final accolade from his sensational racing career: his is the European Champion three-year-old sprinter in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings, the industry’s official international benchmark.

The star of the first crop of Ardad, Perfect Power’s glittering juvenile campaign saw him triumph at Royal Ascot in the G2 Norfolk Stakes before going on to annexe the G1 Darley Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park Stakes. 

At three, he landed the G3 Greenham Stakes on his seasonal debut at Newbury before finding the mile of the 2,000 Guineas just beyond him. Back at his beloved Royal Ascot and returned to sprinting, Perfect Power claimed his third Group 1 victory in the Commonwealth Cup in a performance which would see him rated highest among his contemporaries in the sprint division.

The only other first-crop stallion to sire the European Champion three-year-old sprinter this century? No Nay Never via his son Ten Sovereigns.