James Willoughby picks out the jockey, trainer, owner and sire who made the biggest impact on the TRC Global Rankings in the week that ended on Sunday.
TRC OWNER OF THE WEEK
Another two wins for GODOLPHIN (+1pt) finally saw Sheikh Mohammed’s operation return to the #1 spot for the first time since June 2016. Since then, Coolmore Partners (-2pts) have ruled the roost. The latter’s combined results are, of course, more seasonal than Godolphin, on account of being more dependent on the European season. This battle is likely to propel European flat racing to some notable highs this season.
Godolphin’s highest performance index (referred to in TRC Global Rankings as ‘points’) is 1082pts on March 30, 2014. That was the eighth week of our rankings history, whereas they have 1076pts in this week, the 272nd. In total, Godolphin have been at #1 for 57 weeks. The chronological progression of World #1 owner is given in the table underneath:
This is the fourth time in total that Godolphin have topped the charts. Their longest unbroken run at the top has been 21 weeks, from March to late July 2015. This week’s promotion stops a monster 141-week stay at the top for Coolmore Partners, during which the Irish bloodstock masters dominated the points totals Godolphin have achieved with a peak performance index of 1117.
The TRC performance index points blends the aggregate of Group and Graded wins with the efficiency of gain, taking into account numerous factors that place all the top races on the planet in the same statistical context. Our ratings are designed to be predictive of the next week’s success.
TRC JOCKEY OF THE WEEK
There were multiple riders with more than one win this week. The U.S.-born son of Panama, Luis Saez (+7pts, #53 from #63), took pride of place numerically with three, but the nod goes to 36-year-old ANTHONY DARMANIN (+14pts, #193 from #368) who gained the biggest win of his life in the G1 Australian Guineas at Flemington. He also won a G3 at Launceston. Darmanin is also the biggest riser in any of our four categories.
TRC TRAINER OF THE WEEK
Ace U.S. trainer Chad Brown (+1pt) gained third spot off Aidan O’Brien with a pair of G3 winners at Gulfstream Park, but we would not be fair to trainer ADAM TRINDER (new entry #258) after he gained the same two wins as JOTW Anthony Darmanin. Trinder, who trains in Tasmania, sent out Mystic Journey to win the G1 Australian Guineas as the filly became the first in history from the island state to win a race at the highest level.
TRC SIRE OF THE WEEK
There were double strikes for Deep Impact in Japan (G2 x 2), Fastnet Rock in Australia (G2, G3), Street Cry in the U.S. (G2) and Australia (G1 Chipping Norton with Winx), and MEDAGLIAD’ORO (+4pts, #31 from #33). A true three-surface sire, Medaglia d’Oro’s key win was the G1 Vodafone New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie with Crown Prosecutor.
TRC Global Rankings takes racing in New Zealand very seriously and weights each race commensurate with its global impact in terms of the quality of the horses and the reach and success rate of the horsemen and horsewomen and sires elsewhere.
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