In a new weekly feature, James Willoughby picks out the jockey, trainer, owner and sire who made the most significant progress in the TRC Global Rankings week that ended on Sunday.
TRC JOCKEY OF THE WEEK
Mike Smith cemented his status as our U.S. #1 rider - and clear world #2 - when winning two G1s on dirt at Saratoga last Saturday - both on Bob Baffert-trained fillies. He won the Personal Ensign on Abel Tasman and the Ballerina Stakes on Marley’s Freedom. Smith gains only two points because our predictive algorithm expects elite performance from elite riders
TRC OWNER OF THE WEEK
Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation had four winners and five placed horses from 16 runners last week - closing the gap on world #1 owner Coolmore Partners. Two wins came at Deauville - the G2 Grand Prix de Deauville and the G3 Prix Quincey - and there were also strikes at York (a 1-2 in G2 Great Voltigeur) and Rosehill (G3 Premier’s Cup).
TRC TRAINER OF THE WEEK
Bob Baffert earns top billing ahead of several candidates (honourable mention John Gosden, John Sadler, Charlie Appleby, Andrew Balding) with a G1 double at Saratoga. His top-notch fillies Abel Tasman (Personal Ensign Stakes) and Marley’s Freedom (Ballerina Stakes) delivered a four-point consolidation for our U.S. #1 trainer (and world #2).
TRC SIRE OF THE WEEK
Dubawi is 7/21 in Group and Graded races in August - best in the world by far. In 2018, he is 24/117 (21 percent) races, compared with world #1 Galileo’s 25/156 (16 percent). Both have had four G1 wins, but Dubawi’s median Racing Post Rating is higher. Galileo is clearly the best sire of the century, but expected performance now is our chosen metric. Dubawi is just one point behind now.
Why Dubawi looks set to take over as world #1.
Click here for a list of all last week’s biggest TRC Global Rankings points gainers.
Click here for a list of all the week’s Group and Graded winners.