Kiwi superstar James McDonald is back on top of the world after reclaiming #1 spot on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings for jockeys.
The Sydney-based New Zealander known as ‘J-Mac’ has sneaked ahead of Ryan Moore by a single rankings point after partnering Romantic Warrior to a hard-fought victory in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday [Feb 25].
McDonald, 32, had previously spent a total of 42 weeks at the top, the fourth-higehst figure since we started rankings jockeys in January 2014. As the accompanying table shows, Moore leads the way with a total of 257 weeks.
McDonald rode a treble on the card at Sha Tin; he earned a 24pt rankings boost – enough to move ahead of Moore by the narrowest of margins (2126 plays 2125).
Winning trainer Danny Shum (#23 from #32, +54pt) also gets a nice boost on the trainers’ lists, while Romantic Warrior (#5 from #8, +93pt) joins Hong Kong compatriot Golden Sixty in the Top 5 for horses.
In a stirring battle for the HK Gold Cup, Romantic Warrior had to overcome a wide draw before holding off a fierce challenge from Voyage Bubble (#27 from #44, +97pt) by a neck to take the HK$13m ($1.66m/£1.31m) contest.
“He is unreal, he just keeps surprising me – an unbelievable horse,” said McDonald, who is a regular visitor to Hong Kong’s major cards.
“He’s the undisputed champion. He deserves all the accolades he gets. I can’t stress how much of a privilege it is to ride him.
“He’s the horse that does it all,” added McDonald, who has an array of enticing rides to anticipate as the Sydney autumn season moves into top gear. “He makes you look good all the time. His tenacity, will to win is phenomenal.”
Romantic Warrior has now won six G1 contests – plus the HK Derby in 2022, a hugely prestigious race that is ineligible for international G1 status owing to its restricted nature.
With 13 wins from 18 starts, the gelding’s CV bears the closest inspection. Having shown his mettle on the international stage with a narrow victory in Australasia’s foremost weight-for-age race, the Cox Plate, he completed back-to-back in the Hong Kong Cup – feature event of the Longines HK International Races – in December.
He is only the third horse since the turn of the century (after Vengeance Of Rain and Designs On Rome) to snare all three of Hong Kong’s top-level 2000m contests – the Hong Kong Gold Cup, QEII Cup and Hong Kong Cup.
Now he is set to bid for a record third win in the FWD QEII Cup in April, while Japan’s Yasuda Kinen in June was also mentioned as a possible target.
Australia: sixth G1 for Mr Brightside
Mr Brightside (#7 from #9, +75pt), short-headed by Romantic Warrior in the Cox Plate in October, continues his climb up the Top Ten after recording his sixth G1 success in the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield in Melbourne on Saturday [Feb24].
The New Zealand-bred six-year-old is enjoying a wonderful campaign for the Hayes training partnership. Having won the last two editions of the time-honoured Doncaster Mile in 2022 and 2023, he has won five times in the current Aussie season – and finished second on his other three outings, all but one of them in G1 company.
“You can call him a champion now without using that word too loosely,” suggested jockey Craig Williams (#19 from #21, +12pt).
“He’s an amazing Thoroughbred. He just keeps getting the job done at the top level.
“I’m just very grateful. It’s been a pleasure and a privilege to be a part of this horse’s development, and we’re all reaping the rewards from the hard work that he does.
“How can you knock him? He’s feared by his rivals. I guess I feel a bit like Max Verstappen, just jumping on him and spinning him around the track.”
Saudi Cup: Senor Buscador leaves it late
As might be imagined, the world’s richest race meeting in Riyadh also had an effect on the rankings, with Saudi Cup one-two Senor Buscador (+310pt, #19 from #113) and Ushba Tesoro (+91pt, #13 from #29) making significant moves after a thrilling finale to the $20m contest.
Late-running types were thriving all day on both dirt and turf at King Abdulaziz racecourse, but the main event took that scenario to extremes when both principals rallied from miles back as a decent pace collapsed in the closing stages – though the winner still established a new stakes record of 1m49.50s.
Saudi Crown and National Treasure, third and fourth, can be marked up for their efforts after playing big roles in the pace scenario, but Breeders’ Cup Classic winner White Abarrio did not fire, finishing a dismal tenth of 14.
A similar late rally having just failed in the Pegasus World Cup, Senor Buscador was claiming his first success at the top level for New Mexico-based trainer Todd Fincher.
“I’m just proud of the horse,” said Fincher. “Something bad happens to him every race but he always runs hard and has ten or 11 horses to weave in and out of. We knew he was going to run well, we just had to hope for the right set up and we got it.”
Senor Buscador, a six-year-old son of Mineshaft, was ridden by Junior Alvarado (#16 from #19, +22pt). Senor Buscador and Ushba Tesoro will renew rivalries in the Dubai World Cup.
Elsewhere on the Saudi card, Spirit Dancer (+165pt, #44 from #111) was a notable rankings a mover as he added a lucrative triumph in the G2 Neom Turf Cup to his Bahrain laurels. Odds-on favourite Luxembourg was swamped 150 metres out before coming fourth.
• 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.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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