Workforce has been officially rated higher than Sea The Stars at the equivalent stage last year following his sparkling victory in the Derby at Epsom.The British Horseracing Authority's (BHA) handicappers have given Khalid Abdullah's colt a rating of 128 - 4lb (1.8kg) more than that handed to Sea The Stars 12 months ago.Sea The Stars went on to much greater things and the sky could also be the limit for Sir Michael Stoute's charge after his seven-length romp in a record time for the premier Clas
Workforce has been officially rated higher than Sea The Stars at the equivalent stage last year following his sparkling victory in the Derby at Epsom.
The British Horseracing Authority's (BHA) handicappers have given Khalid Abdullah's colt a rating of 128 - 4lb (1.8kg) more than that handed to Sea The Stars 12 months ago.
Sea The Stars went on to much greater things and the sky could also be the limit for Sir Michael Stoute's charge after his seven-length romp in a record time for the premier Classic.
"I have discussed the race with my colleague Chris Nash and independently we have come up the same figure, so we are pretty pleased with that," BHA senior handicapper, Phil Smith said.
"We have used Rewilding (third) as our marker. We've got him running to 115, and At First Sight (second) therefore is 116.
"We thought the winner won easily enough, but instead of calling it seven lengths we have called it eight.
"We work on one and half pounds per length over a mile and a half (2400m) so he comes out a 12lb better horse than At First Sight, so it puts him on 128.
"That's very high for a Derby-winning performance.
"We've had Derby winners eventually get higher than that, obviously See The Stars last year.
"We put him on 124 (after the Derby) and it was more his Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes performances that saw him go higher."
Timeform provisionally rate Workforce on 132 making it their best Derby-winning performance since Generous in 1991.
Winning jockey Ryan Moore believes Workforce had improved 20lb from his run in the Dante Stakes at York.
"I have never had a (middle-distance) horse quicken like that and I have never been round the bend at Epsom so quickly," he said.
"He was a different horse from the Dante and must have improved 20lb."
The Irish Derby in three weeks' time is the obvious next port of call for Workforce, although a final decision will not be made until nearer the time.
"It was a very exciting performance and he's come out of the race absolutely fine," said the owner's racing manager, Teddy Grimthorpe.
"The Irish Derby would look the obvious next step, but we'll just see how the horse takes this race and sit down and make a plan for the rest of the season."