Shaquille, the breakout star of the British summer, is the main mover this week on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings for horses after his second G1 success in the July Cup on Saturday [July 15].
In an era of global racing superpowers, the three-year-old’s relatively humble origins doubtless had much to do with the popularity of his Royal Ascot victory in the G1 Commonwealth Cup for northern-based trainer Julie Camacho.
He proved that was no flash in the pan, however, with more of the same in the July meeting highlight, scoring in convincing fashion by a length and a half.
What is more, Shaquille (#24 from #178, +325pt) seems to be winning almost in spite of himself. Having blown the start at Royal Ascot before a last-to-first charge, he did the same in the July Cup – and then proceeded to drag his jockey Rossa Ryan (first G1 win) to the front with a startling mid-race move.
Anyone watching must have thought it was all over at that stage as he had done nothing to help himself, yet somehow he kept on best of all to win going away in a remarkable performance.
Camacho, who has broken the £1m mark for prize-money for the first time, defended her representative’s seemingly wayward antics.
“It does upset me that everyone thinks he is the big ignorant thug, which he shows at the races,” she admitted. “But in everyday life he is an absolute darling – a darling to do anything with.
“I’m a bit overwhelmed, really,” she added. “It is a massive moment. We are a small yard in the north. I said to a friend before Ascot, we come down here we think we have got nice horses, they give us a bang on the nose and tell us to go back up north where we belong.
“It is lovely to be able to come down here with a horse like him and show how good he is.”
Elsewhere at the Boodles-sponsored July meeting, last year’s Prix de Diane winner Nashwa (#31 from #260, +326pt) regained the winning thread after a four-race losing streak in the Falmouth Stakes.
Cutting back to a mile worked the oracle as the four-year-old put daylight between herself and her G1 rivals with a five-length victory under Hollie Doyle. Next up is a defence of her Nassau Stakes crown at Glorious Goodwood.
John & Thady Gosden-trained stablemate Israr (#52 from #1092, +533pt) put 2021 Derby winner Adayar (#68 from #42, -56pt) in his place with an emphatic first Group-race success in the G2 Princess of Wales’s Stakes.
While Godolphin trainer Charlie Appleby is clearly still having winners, Adayar’s defeat was the latest in a series of significant reverses for the world #1 trainer as he attempts to fight off the attentions of Aidan O’Brien. A G2 success for Master Of The Seas (#45 from #217, +243) in Ascot’s Summer Mile helped in that respect.
It is mighty tough for two-year-olds to reach the upper echelons this early in the piece– understandably, as they have yet to accrue the body of work necessary for high estate. However, Ramatuelle (#94 from #424, +247pt) is certainly doing her best after another wide-margin Group-race success for trainer Christopher Head (#26 from #33, +39pt) in the Prix Robert Papin at Chantilly.
Back at Newmarket, City Of Troy usurped Aidan O’Brien-trained stable companion River Tiber as favourite for next year’s Classics when following up his maiden success with a 6½-length romp in the G2 Superlative Stakes. This was his first rankings-eligible run – and he enters the charts at #90 with promise of much more to come.
The identity of City Of Troy’s sire is also worthy of note, as it is Triple Crown winner Justify – also the sire of Ramatuelle. Surely few would have forecast such success with his progeny on grass for the unbeaten six-time dirt winner, but Justify(#48 from 85, +82pt among turf sires) has also enjoyed recet G1 turf success in the US recently with Irish-trained Aspen Grove.
Standing at Coolmore’s US arm Ashford, he also has a leading dirt three-year-old in G1 winner Arabian Lion.
• 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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View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires