Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby has reaped the rewards of the Dubai team’s longstanding international outlook by reclaiming the #1 spot on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Just one of five trainers to occupy the top spot, Appleby (#1 from #2, +30pt) takes over from Aidan O’Brien after an excellent start to the 2024 campaign.
Last week’s 30pt boost for Appleby is largely down to the repeat victory of G1-placed Ottoman Fleet (#77 from #207, +155pt) in the G3 Earl of Sefton Stakes at Newmarket’s Craven meeting, while his newly bolstered US-based team chipped in when Silver Knott landed the G2 Elkhorn at Keeneland on Saturday [April 20], with stablemate Bold Act in third.
Other promising sorts also scored in lesser grade – notably Hidden Law, who claimed a well-contested Newbury maiden by 5½ lengths, while Endless Victory is in line for Derby trial after scoring at Newmarket, where First Conquest won the Wood Ditton.
Those races don’t count for rankings purposes, of course, and Appleby’s return to the top is largely down to his exploits at home in Dubai, where he landed a pair of G1s during the annual carnival via Measured Time (Jebel Hatta) and Rebel’s Romance (Sheema Classic).
World #1 trainers listed by weeks on top
Appleby was last #1 on July 16, last year, since when O’Brien has ruled the roost. It is anticipated that the Ballydoyle trainer will lay down a strong challenge to regain the top spot when the European season kicks into full gear, but various sighters in Britain last week came to nought. Indeed, the Irish maestro saddled just a single winner – Chemistry in a Curragh maiden – which explains a 42pt drop that has cost him the #1 position. For a time, at least.
This week’s rankings reflect Appleby’s superior start internationally and the body of his work overall – his 123 Group and Graded wins in the three-year rankings window have come at an outstanding strike-rate of 28 per cent.
Appleby’s form figures in global Group and Graded races in 2024 are 12514112714311251316810124252441527112221513 giving him 16 winners from 44 runners (36%). As well as his Dubai winners, Breeders’ Cup Mile hero Master Of The Seas returned to the fray with another G1 success in the Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland, where Appleby also saddled the runner-up Naval Power.
Among notable movers this week on the equine rankings were Australian-trained Magic Time (#20 from #74, +181pt), who landed the All-Aged Stakes at Randwick, plus Oaklawn Handicap winner Skippylongstocking (#36 from #61, +93pt). With career earnings approaching $2.3m, the latter five-year-old has become a bit of a standing dish in valuable races beneath the top level in the US for trainer Saffie Joseph (#64 from #93, +39pt).
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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