Big news this week on the world rankings as the legendary Frankel moves ahead of Dubawi to claim top spot as the world’s current #1 sire.
According to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings, the Juddmonte phenomenon earned a 58pt boost last week to take his current portfolio to 2401pts – just enough to end Dubawi’s long reign in pole position. The Darley stallion’s portfolio currently stands at 2389pts.
Now 15, Frankel stands at Banstead Manor in Newmarket at a 2023 fee of £275,000. Generally considered the greatest racehorse in the modern era of European racing – and perhaps of all time – after his unbeaten 14-race career for the late Sir Henry Cecil, the son of Galileo is clearly well on the way to emulating his sire’s exploits in his second career.
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Following Chaldean’s recent 2000 Guineas victory – plus noteworthy successes with Classic winners like Adayar and Hurricane Lane, and Arrest's Chester Vase – the great horse last week had two winners which counted towards the rankings, notably G1 Prix Saint-Alary winner Jannah Rose. With this, Frankel has had 31 winners which count towards our rankings in the last three-year period, joint-top with the sadly missed Deep Impact.
However, Frankel has also had another 59 winners at G2 and G3 standard which eclipses the Japanese superstar by a wide margin. In addition, his strike-rate of 18% beats every stallion in our Top 30 except stud-mate Kingman (20%).
It is necessary here to explain what is meant by phrases such as “races which count towards our rankings” or “races of Group or Graded standard” because TRC does include certain races which are not ratified by the IFHA as Group/Graded races.
Notable among these, of course, are those huge-pot invitational races, mostly in Australia like the Everest, the world’s richest turf race – but we also include British and Irish Classic trials at nine furlongs and above which may have only Listed status officially.
This has impacted Frankel because Lingfield Derby Trial winner Military Order is one such winner to receive upgraded status; as if to emphasise the value of the integrity of the race, he is new favourite for the Betfred Derby at Epsom.
Savethelastdance, hot favourite for the Oaks at Epsom after her 22-length Cheshire Oaks win, would not appear in the rankings at all unless we ‘upgraded’ such trials. She makes her debut at #211 – it was probably a weak Listed race, after all, and the soft conditions accentuated the margin. That said, she will improve her standing out of all recognition if she follows up in the premier fillies’ Classic – and the TRC algorithm can reassess her Chester run.
Last year’s Everest winner Giga Kick (#5 from #22, +257pt) is the major mover on the racehorse rankings this week after a cosy victory in the Doomben 10,000 in Brisbane. The system has been cautious over his form due to the margins and conditions – plus the small matter of three defeats since he won the Everest.
But this was a competitive race, representing his second consecutive G1 success after his defeat of top miler Zaaki over seven furlongs in the All Aged Stakes at Randwick last month. Giga Kick has won seven of his ten career starts altogether and the three-year-old is now the top-rated active Australian-trained horse after the retirement of current world #3 Anamoe.
Giga Kick’s young trainer Clayton Douglas said the colt would now have a break before returning as a four-year-old to defend his Everest crown.
In Europe, French Classic winner Blue Rose Cen (#51 from £164, +184pt) narrowly misses the Top 50 after landing the Poule d’Essai des Pouliches (French 1,000 Guineas) for Christopher Head, the scion of a famous racing dynasty.
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