Whichever way you care to slice it, last weekend’s racing was all about one person.
Step forward five-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher, who saddled no fewer tha
n four G1 winners, with the Pacific Classic victory of Fierceness at Del Mar closely attended by three more top-level successes at Saratoga.
After a banner weekend, Pletcher (right) ended the annual Saratoga meet with a share of the trainers’ title alongside Chad Brown, with both men posting 32 wins at the prestigious 40-day summer stand.
What is more, Pletcher – who was winning the Saratoga crown for the 15th time – also received a major boost onThoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings for trainers, where he re-enters the Top Ten at #10 (from #16, +120pt).
Pletcher mopped up both G1s for two-year-olds at Saratoga with runaway winners Tommy Jo (Spinaway) and the Spendthrift Spooneristifcally-inclined Ted Noffey (Hopeful), but his richest success came via Fierceness (#3 from #15, +263pt) in the $1 million Pacific Classic.
Although Pletcher is nowhere near as prevalent on the west coast as he used to be, he left his mark in no uncertain terms as the four-year-old son of City Of Light (#18 from #26 among dirt sires, +81pt) landed the fourth G1 of his career with an impressive 3¼-length victory over odds-on favorite, the Preakness winner Journalism (#6 from #5).
In many ways, this was a victory for the old firm as John Velazquez (#10 from #12, +46pt) was in the saddle – just as he was for a couple of Pletcher’s big winners in upstate New York. Just like his old sparring partner, Velazquez has also returned to the Top Ten on TRC rankings.
Velazquez reported that Fierceness had given him a bit of a fright early on. “At the start, he attempted to duck into the temporary railing,” said the jockey.
“I got him out of there, but he over-reacted by pulling in the the other direction. I wanted to stay off his mouth, so I had to sit on him a little but he got straightened out going into the first turn and I was able to save ground behind the leaders.”
But for a somewhat in-and-out overall profile, Fierceness would doubtless be a legitimate challenge for world leader in the current climate. He’ll be heading for a return to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, where last year he was runner-up.
For his part, BC Classic winner Sierra Leone (#10 from #8, -18pt) came unstuck in a messy renewal of the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Saratoga. Pletcher’s dual G1 winner Mindframe was unseated in the early stages after Phileas Fogg veered in sharply, causing plenty of trouble on his inside – including to favored Sierra Leone, who was even further back than usual as he attempted to follow up his last-time-out Whitney success.
Despite Mindframe’s travails, Pletcher still won the famous $1m event, however, via Velazquez-ridden Antiquarian (#46 from #372, +347pt), who earned his first G1 success, holding a strong late rally from last-time-out Whitney winner Sierra Leone, who failed by a length and a half.
Phileas Fogg, who had beaten Antiquarian over course and distance in the G2 Suburban. was DQ-ed after a third-placed finish. Among those also compromised by the early scrimmage was defending champ Highland Falls and 2023 BC Classic hero White Abarrio.
While it wasn’t quite on the Pletcher level, Frankie Dettori (#12 from #11, +13pt) made hay at the richly endowed Kentucky Downs turf meet, where he claimed Saturday’s Nashville Derby – only G3 in status, but one of the richets races on the continent at $3.5m – on British-trained three-year-old Wimbledon Hawkeye (#179 from #543, +185pt) before a four-timer on Sunday’s card.
“He’s proven at the distance and he’s proven on the grass,” said Dettori, who had won the same race 12 months previously with Bellum Justum, another visitor from the UK.
“The only thing I was afraid of was that he’s danced every dance,” added the rider. “He’s been going since April … then traveling across the pond. I was hoping that he would come here with his A-game.”
Top-grade racing has returned to Australia over the last couple of weekends after the winter impasse, and several big names re-enter the chart as a result of the G1 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield.
The seven-furlong event went to Australian Oaks winner Treasurethe Moment, who reclaims her rankings spot at #16. Hardly surprising, really, as she has now won ten of 12 career starts, and has never met defeat in seven Group-race starts, winning four G1s altogether.
The filly’s owners Yu Long Investments climb another place to #4 (from #5, +125pt) to stand behind only the behemoths of Godolphin, Coolmore and Juddmonte on the owners’ listings.
At the top of the rankings, Hong Kong sprint superstar Ka Ying Rising records his 19th week at the summit ahead of his return to action this weekend in a handicap at Sha Tin.
Aidan O’Brien now has 255 weeks in total at #1 among the trainers, while Ballydoyle’s retained rider Ryan Moore has a total of 310 weeks at the head of affairs. However, he won’t be staying there indefinitely owing to the broken leg that has ruled him out for the remainder of the European season.
Frankel continues his reign as world-leading sire, though dirt #2 Into Mischief – sire of star US three-year-old Sovereignty – is closing down Dubawi for second spot overall.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
‘He writes his own story’ – Rebel’s Romance back in world Top 5 with eighth G1 win
‘He’s just in a different league’ – Sierra Leone asserts his superiority in the Whitney
• 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.