Pride Of Jenni shook up Australian racing with an astonishing performance at Randwick last weekend – and the mare also shook up Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings by jumping to #2 on the world list.
Only the Hong Kong superstar Golden Sixty now stands above Pride Of Jenni, who earns a 188pt boost for her extraordinary performance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick, A$5m ($3.2m/£2.58m) highlight of Day 2 at The Championships in Sydney.
The six-year-old scored by 6½ lengths over ex-British-trained Via Sistina to claim her third G1 success – plus the A$4m All-Star Mile – but even that bare fact, impressive as it is, doesn’t tell anything like the full story of a jaw-dropping display.
Sent to the front by Declan Bates, the mare was at least 30 lengths clear by halfway in the 2,000-metre (1m2f) contest also featuring world #5 Mr Brightside plus recent Australian Cup winner Cascadian and former French G1 winner Place Du Carrousel.
“We expected her to lead by a long way. But seriously, 30 lengths? This is unbelievable,” said gobsmacked race caller Darren Flindell.
Pride Of Jenni turned into the Randwick straight still holding a massive advantage and, though her opponents made desperate efforts to close down the margin, this bird had flown.
“My goodness – this is a demolition job,” exclaimed Flindell. “The ride of the century!”
Certain post-race reports weren’t entirely circumspect, either. “One of the greatest performances ever witnessed on an Australian racecourse,” said Fox Sports, while Racenet suggested this was “Secretariat-like”. “One of the most incredible feats ever seen on a Sydney racetrack,” suggested 7News.
“I have never been so amazed by one horse,” said trainer Ciaron Maher. “You will never see anything like that again.
“I knew she’d get better the more she raced at 2000m. My god, that was mind-boggling to know that a horse can do that.”
Having been made to look foolish, the riders of beaten horses were questioned by the stewards about their efforts. “Embarrassing,” was the word offered by world #1 James McDonald to the media after coming second on the favourite Via Sistina.
Mind you, McDonald did not let it bother him too much as he claimed the next race, the G1 Queen of the Turf, on Zougotcha (#17 from #32, +80pt).
Be that as it may, former Irish jump jockey Bates came in for deserved plaudits – but he admitted he was worried he had gone too fast.
“I was actually concerned that we were doing a bit too much,” he said. “To be honest, until we hit that line I wasn’t happy at all today until it was done. I couldn’t tell you what the sectionals were.”
Pride Of Jenni will now have a break before being trained for the G1 King Charles III Stakes (formerly George Main) back at Randwick on Everest day in October.
Pride Of Jenni was completing a G1 double for the Maher team, who also took the Sydney Cup on Circle Of Fire (#80 from #429, +272pt). There was more than hint of the UK in this result, as the winner was ridden by ex-British-based Andrea Atzeni, while the colt was originally trained by Sir Michael Stoute and carried the royal colours.
Also worth noting: the Sydney Cup fourth was none other than 2020 Derby winner Serpentine, who did his own version of the ‘Pride Of Jenni’ big-race steal when establishing a massive lead at Epsom en route to an unlikely 5½-length win as a 25-1 shot for the Aidan O’Brien team.
Life hasn’t been peaches and cream since, as Serpentine suffered the ignominy of a gelding operation after being sold to Australia, where he has landed up with the Gai Waterhouse team. He won a G3 event at Rosehill a couple of weeks ago.
Elsewhere, Breeders’ Cup Mile winner Master Of The Seas returns to the rankings at #6 after leading home a Godolphin one-two for Charlie Appleby in the G1 Maker’s Mark Mile at Keeneland on Friday [April 12].
Justin Milano, who surged late to win the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) at Nakayama in stakes record time, moves up to #31 (from #245, +322pt).
• 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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