Breeders’ Cup rankings update: Thorpedo Anna ascends to world #2 spot after dismissing Distaff foes

Star in the ascendant: Thorpedo Anna (Brian Hernandez) wins the Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Del Mar. Photo: Alex Evers/Eclipse Sportswire/Breeders’ Cup

As might be expected, last weekend’s 41st Breeders’ Cup meeting at Del Mar had a sizeable effect on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.

However, while there were several notable movers, there is no change at the top, where star stayer Kyprios claims a third week in the #1 slot – and the Coolmore team of Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore also retain pole position.

Although they suffered severe disappointment with City Of Troy (#4 from #2, -45pt) in the BC Classic, the world-leading trainer-jockey team have now enjoyed 212 and 273 weeks at the top respectively.

So what has changed slightly lower down the pecking order among horses? Let’s take them in order, starting with the admirable Thorpedo Anna, who climbs to #2 (from #9, +88pt) after what amounted to a pea-shelling exercise in the BC Distaff.

But for the head she was beaten by Fierceness in a gallant Travers Stakes effort against her male counterparts, Thorpedo Anna would be unbeaten in seven races during her stellar three-year-old season encompassing five G1s.

In truth, she faced no real opposition once Idiomatic was ruled out of the Distaff, where Japanese hope Awesome Result also never made it to post. (Then again, given how the majority of Japanese-trained horses performed at Del Mar – with a couple of laudable exceptions – it probably wouldn’t have made much difference.)

After that, the Ken McPeek-trained daughter of Fast Anna was all business as she dispatched an ordinary group of rivals.

It’s not a shoo-in but Horse of the Year honors are surely beckoning – and big plans are afoot in 2025. “We wouldn’t mind taking Thorpedo Anna to the Pegasus, Dubai, Saudi,” said McPeek. “She certainly at this stage can fit against any of them.”

If she does indeed take in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park on January 25, then a rematch with the aforementioned Fierceness (#3 from #7, +79pt) is very much on the cards after the latter’s courageous effort in defeat in the BC Classic.

The only one of those close to a strong gallop to stay in contention, Fierceness was beaten a length and a half by Sierra Leone (#8 from #72, +280pt) – a rival he had beaten twice at Saratoga.

Given that Sierra Leone carried Coolmore’s pink second silks, and they have have acquired stud rights to Fierceness, it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Irish ‘lads’ as City Of Troy failed to fire.

Although the winner benefited from a favourable setup, the $2.3m son of Gun Runner looked more professional here, with no sign of his previous tendency to hang. And let’s be fair – there were others who also raced off the pace who could not take advantage. At the time of writing, future plans are undecided.

Next we come to the indefatigable Rebel’s Romance (#5 from #10, +97pt), a hero unsung no more after reclaiming his title in the BC Turf. The six-year-old gelding may just have held on from the fast-finishing Rousham Park – a bright spark for Japan – under a canny ride from William Buick, but the plain fact is that he has now won seven G1 events in five different countries – plus the big race in Qatar, which is worth an Amir’s ransom but still only a G3 according to international standards.

Put simply, Rebel’s Romance is a proper global performer; if there was a G1 in Timbuktu, he’d probably win it. Expect more of the same in 2025, when doubtless he will be in action at the Dubai Carnival for starters.

Also worth stating here that while Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby’s 50% strike rate at the Breeders’ Cup took a knock over the weekend, most of his representatives ran bang-up races. It isn’t stretching things to suggest that with a bit of luck, he might have won two or three.

Others to make major rankings moves at Del Mar are headed by BC Sprint winner Straight No Chaser (#17 from #188, +270pt) and Ballydoyle’s star two-year-old filly Lake Victoria (#38 from #128, +133pt), who would have lapped her rivals with a clean trip in the BC Juvenile Fillies Turf. Unbeaten in five this term, the daughter of Frankel has won three G1s – no easy task as a juvenile.

Kudos too to Ryan Moore for his ride – though the world #1 would probably agree that it is slightly easier to overcome mid-race adversity when your horse is an outstanding performer light years better than the others!

To complete the list, here are the rankings moves for the remaining BC winners: More Than Looks (BC Mile, #54 from #528, +313pt), Soul Of An Angel (BC F&M Sprint, #56 from #183, +146pt), Immersive (BC Juvenile Fillies, #66 from #240, +171pt), Full Serrano (BC Dirt Mile, #71 from #1089, +456pt), Citizen Bull (BC Juvenile, #91 from #389, +222pt), Moira (BC Filly & Mare Turf, #117 from #348, +170pt), Henri Matisse (BC Juvenile Turf, #123 from #375, +174pt), Starlust (BC Turf Sprint, #193 from #1091, +324pt), Magnum Force (BC Juvenile Turf Sprint, #236 from #1764, +390pt).

It can’t have escaped anybody’s notice that there’s been some premier action in Australia lately as well. Everest winner Bella Nipotina (#14 from #30, +84pt), the ‘iron lady’ of Australian sprinting, moves in the Top 20 after cruising home in the Russell Balding Stakes at Rosehill.

Formerly known as the Winners Stakes and renamed annually the previous year’s Everest winner, this is only a conditions race, but worth A$3m ($1.98m). Guven recent evidence, they’ll be after higher status soon enough.

Anyway, with A$2m in bonuses also included, the chestnut mare Bella Nipotina stands behind only Winx on the all-time Aussie prize-money list at approximately A$22.5m ($14.9m/£11.5m).

Also on the move are Empire Rose Stakes winner Atishu (#60 from #165, +125pt) and Royal Ascot possible Switzerland (#63 from #272, +202pt), who won the Coolmore Stud Stakes for the sponsors.

Lake Forest (#84 from #736, +341pt) was another lucrative Aussie win in the Golden Eagle for Newmarket-based William Haggas. Winning rider Cieren Fallon copped a record A$100,000 ($66,000/£51,000) fine plus a one-month ban for his efforts – then again, the race was worth A$10m ($6.6m/£5.1m) so his winner’s share may help.

• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires

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• 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.

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