1972, in which Brigadier Gerard finished his career with a Timeform rating of 144.
In the 1972 Lockinge, Brigadier Gerard beat Grey Mirage by 2.5 lengths. This was when the Lockinge was still open to 3yos. Timeform's WFA scale at the time suggested a 3yo should get 15lbs from a 4yo in this race, meaning Brigadier Gerard was giving him 7lbs. That all adds up to a 14lb beating.
Grey Mirage was rated at 128 as a 2yo despite not running in any of the major juvenile races. He won the old Guineas trial at Kempton by 5 lengths from Taramoss on his 3yo debut. He then won the old Ascot Guineas Trial by 6 lengths from Avancer, but was well beaten in High Top's Guineas when 5/1 third favourite. The Lockinge was next up, but he was only 6th in the Prix du Palais Royal at Longchamp, a 7 length 3rd in the St James Palace Stakes, 5th in a Chester handicap (started 4/6 and had rivals running off as little as 6-7 with a 7lb claimer), 5th beaten over 5 lengths in the Prix Maurice de Gheest, 2nd in the 7f Ascot handicap run immediately after BG's QEII, 7th in the Moulin and finally 7th in the Foret beaten around 3.5 lengths by Lyphard. He ended 1972 with a rating of 124, which dropped to 119 in 1973.
If Grey Mirage ran to his rating of 124 that day, it would put BG's 14lb Lockinge beating of him at 138.
Brigadier Gerard's next race was the Westbury Stakes at Sandown over 10f. (I'm using a poundage of 2.1 lbs per length over 10f, in line with the mile poundage).
Here he gave Ballyhot a half a length beating whist giving him a stone, a 15lb beating in all. Ballyhot had been last of 4 in BG's St James's Palace the year before, and went on to win a couple of stakes races at Doncaster and Deauville, finishing with a Timeform rating of 123. Sandown was his debut at 4, but he only had two more runs afterwards - a 5 length third behind Riverman in the Prix d'Ispahan, and a well beaten unclassified finish in the Prix Caracalla at Saint-Cloud. He was rated at 121 in 1972, which would put BG on 136.
The 3rd horse, Pembroke Castle, was getting 8lbs after WFA and was beaten 2.5 lengths, a total of 13lbs. Pembroke Castle was rated 124 as a 4yo the previous year. At 5, he finished second in what is now the Earl of Sefton when carrying a penalty before Sandown, and then took BG on again in the Prince of Wales's on what turned out to be his last start. He was rated 120 in 1972; a 13lb beating suggests a winning rating of 133 for BG.
The 4th horse, Fair World, was rated 114 in 1971. In '72, he was well beaten in the old Coronation Stakes over course and distance at Sandown, just over 2 lengths 4th of 5 in the Hardwicke, tailed off in the King George and well beaten in the St Simon Stakes at Newbury. He finished the year rated 113. BG gave him a 24lb beating, suggesting a rating of 137.
The last horse was Juggernaut, beaten a further neck. Rated 110 as a 3yo having been unplaced in the Derby and King Edward VII Stakes, he otherwise stuck to handicaps as a 4yo, winning the London Gold Cup at Newbury on his prior start. His rating of only 104 in 1972 would suggest a lower winning rating of only 128. That appears to hold the form down, but in any event the highest rating you could expect for the Westbury would be in the range of 133-137.
BG's third race as a 4yo was in the Prince of Wales's Stakes at Royal Ascot. Then a Group 2 open to 3yos, he gave the runner-up Steel Pulse 3lbs (after WFA) and a 5 length beating, a 14lb beating in all. Steel Pulse was rated 129 as a 2yo after beating Riverman in the Criterium de Maisons-Laffitte and finishing a close second in the Grand Criterium at Longchamp and the Observer Gold Cup (Racing Post Trophy) at Doncaster. Beaten half a length with a penalty in the Craven, he dead-heated for 4th in the Guineas and was a never-nearer 8th in the Derby. After Ascot, however, he came out to win the Irish Derby by a length from Derby 6th and future Gordon Stakes winner Scottish Rifle, with the third a further 6 lengths back to Irish Guineas winner Ballymore. Unfortunately that was the peak of his year, as he was well beaten in the King George, Leger, Arc, Champion Stakes and Washington DC International. He finished the year rated 125, which would suggest a winning rating for BG of 139.
The third place is our friend from the Westbury Stakes, Pembroke Castle. This time BG gave him a 17lb beating, suggesting a winning rating of 137. That puts the winning rating for the Prince of Wales' somewhere in the range of 137-139.
After his wins in the Eclipse and King George, where he didn't need to run to his best, and his defeat to Roberto at York, BG came back to a mile to defend the QEII. Unfortunately he had another small field, with just 3 opponents.
He met Sparkler for the first time since being run to a head on very soft ground over course and distance in the previous year's St James's Palace Stakes, but this time the ground was Firm. BG gave Sparkler 7 lbs and a 6 length beating, a 23lb beating in all. Sparkler had finished his 3yo season rated 130, and at 4 won the Queen Anne by .75 lengths and a short head, was a well beaten last in a 3-runner Sussex Stakes, a moderate 4th in the Hungerford, a .75 length winner of the Prix Quincey at Deauville, a winner in Germany and a 2nd in the Prix Perth. He finished 1972 rated 129, which would put BG on a huge 153 if Sparkler ran to form.
Third place in the QEII, a further 5 lengths back, was Redundant. Also getting 7lbs from BG, he was beaten by 36lbs in total. Redundant was rated 105 in 1971 as a 2yo. At 3 he finished tailed off in the Greenham but came back to win the Britannia handicap at Royal Ascot and following up in a handicap at Brighton. He then finished 5th, behind Sparkler, in the Hungerford, before successfully dropping back to handicap company when winning the September handicap at Sandown. He finished 1972 rated 120; which would put BG on 156 through him.
So as in the previous year, Brigadier Gerard's QEII win looks like it could have been rated well over 150 on the bare form. But again, we've got to deal with the fact that it was a tiny field. It was, however, a course record by a full second (although you might expect a record when the best horse to ever run over course and distance gets Firm ground) although only around 19lbs faster than the 0.5 length Royal Lodge winner Adios later in the day.
And that's it, with the other races omitted for the reasons given earlier. With the exception of some question marks over the true worth of his second QEII win, which could conceivably have been rated higher, I think this shows that Timeform's rating of Brigadier Gerard was pretty consistent with how he would have been rated for the same performances today. They settled on 144, and any notions that his rating was depressed due to a lower poundage than that afforded to Frankel's races don't appear to hold water.
One thing is definitely true though - they would have given each other one hell of a race!
