Following his first victory in the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby on a workmanlike Auguste Rodin, Ryan Moore has reclaimed his position as #1 jockey on the world rankings.
Some might say ‘reclaimed his rightful position’ – and with some justification, as the 39-year-old’s record suggests he is by some measure the greatest rider in the history of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Moore has been #1 in 224 of the 496 weeks since the rankings started in 2014. John Velazquez is second on 86 weeks, with Christophe Lemaire third on 63 weeks.
He also recorded the highest-ever index with 2485pt, recorded in July 2018 and well clear of the best achieved by any other jockey (Lemaire, with 2163).
That said, Moore (#1 from #3, +19pt) has been away from the top spot for some time, his most recent stint at the head of affairs having ended in April 2020.
Moore was a three-time British champion in his younger days before he started concentrating on the biggest fish in his role at Ballydoyle – plus regular sorties around the globe. He would clearly have won a multitude of jockeys’ titles had he ever bothered to try.
He now takes over from Irad Ortiz, who had a one-week interregnum after dethroning James McDonald (stays at #2, -7 pt) on last week’s charts. However, it is such a tight battle among jockeys – as volatile as at any time in rankings history – that Ortiz now drops down to #3 (from #1, -14pt).
Meanwhile, Moore’s chief employer Aidan O’Brien (stays at #3, +18pt) is edging ever closer to the #1 spot making trainers after his 1-2-3-4 in the Curragh Classic, in which he was extending his own record with a 14th triumph. Moreover, it was his 100th success in a European Classic – a truly remarkable feat that ought to go down in the annals.
O’Brien’s current index is 2649pt – not far off longtime leader Charlie Appleby (2712pt), whose Godolphin team are in the midst of a rare Group-race slump, having gone winless at Royal Ascot. US leader Chad Brown is only six points ahead of O’Brien.
As for Auguste Rodin himself, while the Deep Impact colt may not have impressed everybody in completing his Derby double in unspectacular fashion by only a length and a half from his dogged stablemate Adelaide River.
A third G1 success is enough for Auguste Rodin (#16 from #58, +178pt) to crack the world’s top 20. That Guineas flop is still a bit of an anchor, mind you; the King George should tell us more.
Other notable movers this week include Stephen Foster winner West Will Power (#18 from #47, +47pt) and Deutsches Derby hero Fantastic Moon (#64 from #267, +264pt), The latter’s jockey Rene Piechulek (#46 from #49, +22pt), well known for winning the Arc on Torquator Tasso in 2021, creeps up a few places.
• 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.
• Visit the Horse Racing Ireland website
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