Jockey Jim Crowley – newly minted for 2017 as stable rider in Britain to world #5 owner Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum – has justified that appointment in style. The increased opportunities afforded by his new employer have seen the former jumps jockey gain 62 points and 100 places so far in 2017 and he is now world #32 in the latest iteration of TRC Global Rankings.
As the table here shows, this is the biggest gain in any of the four categories of Jockey, Owner, Trainer and Sire in 2017.
TOP 20 CLIMBERS OF 2017
Name | Modal country | Category | Start rank | Start pts | Latest rank | Latest pts | Rank gain | Pts gain |
Jim Crowley | GB | Jockey | 132 | 911 | 32 | 973 | 100 | 62 |
Jorge Gonzalez | Chile | Jockey | 375 | 882 | 71 | 936 | 304 | 54 |
Frankel | GB | Sire | 98 | 949 | 7 | 1000 | 91 | 51 |
Brett Crawford | SA | Trainer | 193 | 903 | 48 | 948 | 145 | 45 |
Corey Brown | Australia | Jockey | 375 | 882 | 95 | 924 | 280 | 42 |
Sean Tarry | SA | Trainer | 88 | 925 | 34 | 960 | 54 | 35 |
Mike Smith | USA | Jockey | 11 | 1003 | 5 | 1036 | 6 | 33 |
Stephen Autridge & Jamie Richards | NZ | Trainer | 180 | 904 | 68 | 935 | 112 | 31 |
Noel Callow | Australia | Jockey | 191 | 897 | 90 | 926 | 101 | 29 |
Christophe Lemaire | Japan | Jockey | 20 | 985 | 9 | 1013 | 11 | 28 |
John Size | HK | Trainer | 66 | 937 | 29 | 965 | 37 | 28 |
Bob Baffert | USA | Trainer | 3 | 1017 | 2 | 1044 | 1 | 27 |
Andreas Suborics | Germany | Jockey | 489 | 878 | 174 | 904 | 315 | 26 |
John Allen | Australia | Jockey | 313 | 885 | 138 | 911 | 175 | 26 |
Scat Daddy | Chile | Sire | 61 | 959 | 18 | 985 | 43 | 26 |
W S Cardoso | Brazil | Jockey | 251 | 890 | 118 | 916 | 133 | 26 |
Julien Leparoux | USA | Jockey | 29 | 974 | 13 | 999 | 16 | 25 |
Poet's Voice | Italy | Sire | 167 | 940 | 49 | 965 | 118 | 25 |
Quality Road | USA | Sire | 80 | 954 | 27 | 979 | 53 | 25 |
Silvano | SA | Sire | 405 | 926 | 100 | 951 | 305 | 25 |
Crowley has won 15 Group races this year, including three G1s. The highlight for him has probably been his association with the tip-top Ulysses, winner of the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown and Juddmonte International at York for trainer Sir Michael Stoute.
A much improved horse as a 4-year-old, the Niarchos Family-owned colt has helped to cement a link between Crowley and Stoute, which has seen him pick up the mount on G1 St Leger favourite Crystal Ocean – a colt of potentially the same order as Ulysses.
Crowley is one of ten riders to make the Top 20 movers list, which is an indication of the relative volatility of the Jockeys’ classification compared with, say, the Owners’ list. Chilean rider Jorge Gonzalez is the second-biggest mover with a gain of 54 points and 304 places in the rankings.
Perhaps a more familiar name globally is Mike Smith, whose 33 point-gain has seen him move up only six places – a reflection of the fact that the rankings are structured so the gradient increases near the top.
Brett Crawford, who operates out of Cape Town, South Africa, is the leading mover among trainers, moving up 145 places to #48 while gaining 45 points. He has sent out no fewer than six G1 winners, notably Cape Derby hero Edict Of Nantes in January.
Sean Tarry, who recently won his third National Trainer’s Championship in South Africa, has also had a good year in the top Graded races, with seven top-level strikes added to his brilliant CV.
Among sires, Frankel leads the way, but we reckon you have heard plenty about him already. But note rises of Scat Daddy (26 points and 43 places to #18), Poet’s Voice (25 points and 118 places to #49), Quality Road (25 points and 53 places to #27) and Silvano (25 points and 305 places to #100).
Click here for a list of last week’s biggest TRC Global Rankings points gainers.
Click here for a list of the week’s Group and Graded winners.