Racing analyst James Willoughby chooses the jockey, owner, trainer and sire who, in his opinion, were the most notable achievers in their respective TRC Global Rankings categories in the week that ended on Sunday.
TRC GLOBAL RANKINGS JOCKEY OF THE WEEK
Four jockeys had a pair of Group/Graded wins last week. Three - #8 Christophe Lemaire in Japan, #13 Florent Geroux, and #26 Drayden Van Dyke in the U.S. - scored exclusively below the top level, but only OISIN MURPHY recorded a G1 strike, when guiding The Tin Man to victory in the Sprint Cup at Haydock in Great Britain. Murphy - featured last week as a leading member of the new Golden Generation of jockeys - gains 6pts and rises to world #12.
TRC GLOBAL RANKINGS OWNER OF THE WEEK
While world #2 Godolphin added wins in Japan and Australia to their resume, it did come from 14 runners. By contrast, world #5 JUDDMONTE FARMS/ PRINCE KHALID ABDULLAH had only four runners, all of whom were placed and which included a comeback win for last year’s G1 Prix de l’Arc winner Enable. The John Gosden-trained filly enjoyed the easiest of leads en route to a bloodless win over Crystal Ocean in the G3 September Stakes at Kempton Park.
TRC GLOBAL RANKINGS TRAINER OF THE WEEK
Honourable mention to world #5 John Gosden for a pair of G3 strikes, but #10 CHRIS WALLER receives top billing, sending out a pair of G2 winners at Rosehill in Lean Mean Machine (The Run To The Rose) and Invincibella (Sheraco Stakes). Waller gains 3pts, closing the gap for Australian #1 with world #6 Darren Weir to 19pts. For his part, Weir had a single Group winner at Moonee Valley.
TRC GLOBAL RANKINGS SIRE OF THE WEEK
It has to be CANDY RIDE, who rose from #22 to #16 after a brace at Del Mar, including the G1 Futurity winner Game Winner, trained by world #2 Bob Baffert. Coincidentally, it was also at the San Diego, California, track where the Lane’s End Farm stalwart himself won the G1 Pacific Classic of 2003 with a 123 Beyer. His runners - notably G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic hero Gun Runner - are 35/202 (17 percent strike raTe) in the current three-year rankings window.
Click here for a list of all last week’s biggest TRC Global Rankings points gainers.
Click here for a list of all the week’s Group and Graded winners.