QIPCO British Champions’ Day at Ascot was a high-quality event. Official handicap figures from the British Horseracing Authority have pegged the performance of Cracksman in the Group 1 Champion Stakes as the best in Europe, and in general the horses on show were of great quality.
TRC Global Rankings takes a similar view of the jockeys, owners, trainers and sires who excelled on the card. Let’s take a look at how the leading performers in each of our categories fared, using last week’s rankings – which we published before Ascot – as the predictive tool.
SIRES
The top four sires with runners on the card according to TRC Global Rankings were:
#1 Galileo: 1133700
#2 Dubawi: 236790
#4 Frankel: 1
#5 Dark Angel: 14
The ranking before their names is each stallion’s position in our overall classifications. The numbers after their names represent the finishing positions of their runners. Collectively, from the five Group races on the card, our top four sires:
- Had only 16 of the 60 runners (27%), but...
- Had 4 of the 5 winners (80%)
- Had 8 of the 15 placed horses (53%)
Galileo continued his dominance, winning the Group 2 Long Distance Cup with Order Of St George and the Group 1 Fillies’ & Mares Stakes with Hydrangea, who was stepping up to a mile and a half for the first time and came home clear of the two Dubawis, Bateel and Coronet.
It isn’t difficult to rank Galileo (and Dubawi, for that matter) among the world’s top sires, but it’s reasonable to assert that the position of Frankel and Dark Angel at #4 and #5 in the world would not be consistent with many rankings of sires by aggregate money or races won. We saw their influence on the big stage here.
Frankel, a son of Galileo, realised his best winner to date with Cracksman. Note that, according to Racing Post Ratings (RPR), Cracksman would rank #4 among his grandsire’s progeny – not bad for Frankel’s first crop.
TRC Global Rankings are bullish on Dark Angel. As well as Persuasive, winner of the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes, he has produced top-notch sprinters in Battaash, Mecca’s Angel and Harry Angel, the last named going off hot favourite for the Group 1 Sprint but failing to see out the stiff six furlongs on a soft surface.
TRAINERS
The top four trainers with runners on the card according to TRC Global Rankings were:
#1 Aidan O’Brien: 113337700000
#4 John Gosden: 11334568
#11 Sir Michael Stoute: 20
#14 Jean-Claude Rouget: 6
Collectively, from the five Group races on the card, our top four trainers:
- Had only 23 of the 60 runners (38%), but...
- Had 4 of the 5 winners (80%)
- Had 10 of the 15 placed horses (67%)
Aidan O’Brien equalled the late Bobby Frankel’s record of 25 Group or Grade 1 wins when Hydrangea powered clear, having earlier bolstered an unremarkable Champions’ Day record by his extremely remarkable standards via Order Of St George.
The day otherwise belonged to John Gosden, who reigns supreme as the #1 trainer in Britain. Both Cracksman and Persuasive reflected great credit on him.
JOCKEYS
The top four jockeys with runners on the card according to TRC Global Rankings were:
#1 Ryan Moore: 11333
#3 Frankie Dettori: 11360
#14 William Buick: 2
#18 Andrea Atzeni: 20
Collectively, from the five Group races on the card, our top four jockeys:
- Had only 13 of the 60 runners (22%), but...
- Had 4 of the 5 winners (80%)
- Had 9 of the 15 placed horses (60%)
Our research has pointed to the identity of the jockey as slightly more important than trainer, owner and sire in predicting winners from TRC Global Rankings. This only makes sense as the best jockeys are associated with leading competitors in the other three categories yet they often have a choice of mounts and a choice of venues to ride at.
Here, Moore and Dettori had the pick of the mounts, but both realised a betting profit for their supporters. Statistically, our leading jockeys coming into the meeting won and placed at a higher rate still than the leading owners, trainers and sires.
OWNERS
The top four owners with runners on the card according to TRC Global Rankings were:
#1 Coolmore Partners: 113337700000
#2 Godolphin: 248900
#4 Hamdan Al Maktoum: 2
#5 Al Shaqab Racing: 67
Collectively, from the five Group races on the card, our top four owners:
- Had only 20 of the 60 runners (33%), but...
- Had 2 of the 5 winners (40%)
- Had 7 of the 15 placed horses (47%)
The four leading owners on our rankings coming into the meeting proved to have the least influence, compared with the other three categories. For the record, the three winners not owned by Coolmore Partners ran in the silks of Cheveley Park Stud (#28. Persuasive), Anthony Oppenheimer (#83, Cracksman) and Tony Bloom (Librisa Breeze, Champions Sprint, unranked but now #376).
This follows the trend of the much larger sample of Group and Graded races in general.
Click here for a list of last week’s biggest TRC Global Rankings points gainers (top of the lot is Aussie jockey Beau Mertens).
Click here for a list of the week’s Group and Graded winners.