Big news from this week’s rankings where James McDonald has supplanted Ryan Moore in the #1 spot on the jockeys’ list.
The Aussie-based Kiwi had been snapping at Moore’s heels for some time on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings for jockeys – hardly surprising, perhaps, given that the autumn season is in full flow down under, whereas Europe remains in much in the off-season.
McDonald (#1 from #2, +22pt) finally got back on top with a pair of G1 wins on Rosehill’s glittering Golden Slipper card on Saturday [March 22}. With a plethora of G1 events over the next few weeks in Australia, J-Mac may well extend his current 18-point margin of superiority (2289pt plays 2271pt). At the very least, McDonald can expect a decent period of time on top – don’t forget, he also has world #1 Romantic Warrior to look forward to in the Dubai Turf.
Moore’s reign ends with his having accrued a total of 293 weeks in the #1 position – not far off six years.
McDonald’s Rosehill double was initiated by Via Sistina (#3 from #4, +67pt), who took her G1 tally to eight in the Ranvet Stakes.
Formerly trained in the UK by George Boughey – and a G1 winner in Ireland for the Newmarket trainer – the seven-year-old has thrived since joining Chris Waller (stays at #6, +7pt), for whom the admirable mare has now won seven G1s in a 12-month period. OK, at times it does seem as if they run G1s every week in Australia, but this is quite some record.
The Cox Plate heroine scored in fine style from Lindermann to land her second G1 win of the autumn campaign in the Ranvet.
“She’s lit up our lives,” said Waller. “We didn't know what we had coming out of quarantine, and obviously we had a good article and a good horse to work with. She's a star.
“She’s a lovely, big, unassuming horse but come raceday, she really turns it on. We don’t dare light her up in the mornings because what she’s capable of, like she’s a real powerhouse.”
McDonald was back in the winner’s enclosure after the very next race as Godolphin’s three-year-old star Broadsiding (#23 from #33, +90pt) valiantly held on from Aeliana in the Rosehill Guineas on his first outing over amile and a quarter since the Cox Plate.
The son of Too Darn Hot now has four G1 wins on his CV. “He’s a class colt and class carries a long way,” said trainer James Cummings.
“You know, he’s probably not a genuine 2,000-metre horse, but he’s a brilliant horse,” the trainer added. “He’s got up and won the Rosehill Guineas, so fair play to him. He’s got another Group 1 on the board.”
Also on the move is five-year-old gelding Gringotts (#57 from #305, +222pt), who held on from multiple G1 winner Fangirl and Ceolwulf in a thrilling finish to a hot-looking renewal of the G1 George Ryder Stakes.
Kentucky Oaks favourite Good Cheer (#56 from #173, +148pt) continued on an upward trajectory by winning the G2 Fair Grounds Oaks to take her unbeaten record to six.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
A big performance in the Big Cap: Locked leaves rivals standing to enter world Top 20
• 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.