Goodness, are you not making the point for me? What more would I need to say?
Ignore the layoff for California Memory for a moment...he beats Able Friend, Glorious Days (last year's int'l HK Mile winner), and Gold-Fun. All in-form horses...and he did it by 4L, 5.25L, and 6L, respectively. It was a TROUNCING, and Variety Club became the only non-HK-based horse to win the race.
Specific to the Longines rankings, and ONLY the Longines rankings, these are ratings for one-off performances, not an analysis of a sustained campaign. In that race, winning by four over some of the best in HK, along with a G1 winner from the UK/France/Australia - this TROUNCING was deserving of the rating it was given by the international panel assembled.
That rating does not speak to what his future holds, or anything else. But on it's own, one-race merit, it was deserved.
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