in 1985 never so bold was officially europe's fourth best older horse, with a rating of 130 placing him behind sagace, rainbow quest and pebbles. following a "recalibration" of historic ratings in 2013, the ratings of all horses in the 1985 classification were moved down by three pounds, giving him a new official rating of 127. the independent timeform organisation disagreed, assigning never so bold a rating of 135 (level with the filly pebbles), making him the highest-rated older male horse of the year as well as their champion sprinter.