Who was the dominant trainer in North America last weekend? Well it wasn’t any of the usual suspects. It wasn’t Chad Brown, for instance, or Brad Cox, or Steve Asmussen or Todd Pletcher. In fact it wasn’t anybody who is actually based in the United States or Canada.
With three Grade 1 winners and another in the richest race of the weekend, take a bow ... Charlie Appleby.
The Newmarket-based Godolphin conditioner, who has been in scintillating form of late - he took two G1s in Europe the previous weekend, scooped three G1s at Woodbine (the Pattison Canadian International with Walton Street, the Natalma Stakes with Wild Beauty and the Summer Stakes with Albahr) as well as Yibir’s impressive win in the $1 million Jockey Club Derby at Belmont, which is categorised as a conditions race only but we include in our rankings as we calculate it to be the equivalent of a strong G2).
Appleby has been plundering top prizes all over the world in recent years. As well as major successes in France, Ireland, Germany and the Middle East, the Englishman has landed big purses in Australia (including the 2018 Melbourne Cup with Cross Counter). And now he is having significant success in Chad Brown’s traditional domain - the top turf races of North America.
Appleby made his intentions pretty clear at Saratoga in July with a 1-2 in the G1 Diana Stakes (Althiqa and Summer Romance, who had occupied the same two places in the Just A Game at Belmont in June). Don't be surprised to see more of his aweseome squad flexing their muscles Stateside in the coming weeks.
Last weekend’s spoils catapulted Appleby into what is virtually a three-way tie for the top spot in the TRC Global Rankings, although he is nominally second, just one point behind John and Thady Gosden and a slender three points clear of Chad Brown:
He may not go clear this week, but his ammunition is so strong across the world that Brown and the Gosdens are unlikely to be able to stay with him over the next few months. Remember, Appleby has Derby and King George hero Adayar and Irish Derby, Grand Prix de Paris and St Leger winner Hurricane Lane among the favourites for the Arc a week on Sunday, as well as a host of other top contenders for the Breeders’ Cup and other huge autumn contests.
Appleby has certainly been a key element in the growing pre-eminence of Godolphin. Not so long ago, Sheikh Mohammed’s empire looked for all the world like a struggling, vulnerable punchbag for the power of Coolmore, yet now the Irish operation is a diminishing speck in Godophin’s rear-view mirror. Astonishingly, Godolphin have a 600-point lead at the top of the TRC Global Rankings, a margin utterly unmatched in TRC history.
Don’t expect it to diminish anytime soon either. As well as the rich talent under the care of the brilliant Appleby, they have the not inconsiderable firepower of Saeed Bin Suroor, and the mighty team down under with current world #11 trainer James Cummings. And we haven’t even mentioned their highest-ranked runner, the Brad Cox-trained world #5 Essential Quality.
Back to Woodbine for a moment, and we must note that Frankie Dettori, who is of course a former Godophin employee himself, was a major beneficiary of the Appleby G1 treble, flying to Toronto to ride all three and thereby extending his lead at the top of the jockeys’ standings.
Behind him, however, another ex-Godolphin rider was continuing what is looking like an inexorable rise to the top of the pile. Australia-based James McDonald slipped past Joel Rosario to become world #2, his highest ranking so far, and with the Spring Carnival getting underway, it looks only a matter of time before the supremely gifted Kiwi topples the Italian.
