Baeza secured a huge jump in the Global Rankings when he confirmed his high status in the pecking order among US three-year-olds with a comfortable victory in the $1 million Pennsylvania Derby on Saturday [Sept 20].
So often the bridesmaid in Triple Crown skirmishes behind division principals Sovereignty and Journalism, the John Shirreffs-trained colt took advantage of their absence with a powerful effort under jockey Hector Berrios in the signature race at Parx.
Incredibly, Baeza was recording his first win since February – and his first outside maiden company – with this decisive 2¼-length verdict over Magnitude. Several other useful types further were further behind, among them Preakness runner-up Gosger (sixth).
As a result, Baeza catapults himself up to (#24 from #224, +358pt) on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive world rankings. In truth, the son of McKinzie’s previous ranking was probably artificially deflated by his repeated failures to win, albeit in commendable displays to get placed in a string of top-class races, including the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes (third in both).
Now though he finally has a G1 on his resumé – much to the relief of Shirreffs. “He needed to win something,” admitted the trainer.
“Today was one of the most exciting races I have ever participated in, to tell you the truth,” he went on. “And that includes races with Zenyatta.
“This was like, ‘Prove yourself today.’ And he did. This was very gratifying. We have been close in some of the big races and today he put it all together.”
In Japan, Arima Kinen heroine Regaleira (#42 from #198, +252pt) returned to action after her summer break with a G2 victory in the Sankei Sho All Comers at Nakayama on Sunday [Sept 21]. Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2,000 Guineas) winner Museum Mile (#74 from #172, +189pt) was also on the mark in the G2 St Lite Kinen at the same venue on Sept 15.
Leading Australian-trained sprint mare Joliestar (#44 from #77, +85pt) produced the perfect prep for the Everest when scoring under world #2 James McDonald in the G2 Shorts at Randwick on Saturday [Sept 20].
World-leading sire Frankel (stays at #1, +43pt) sired his 40th G1 winner when Sir Delius (#83 from #369, +229pt) landed the G1 Underwood Stakes at Caulfield.
The ex-French-trained four-year-old raced in Europe as Delius for the Coolmore team; now with Gai Waterhouse and her cohorts, he was a record purchase for 1.3 million guineas at the Tattersalls Autumn Horses-in-Training Sales in 2024. The Melbourne Cup is high on the agenda now – after the Cox Plate.
His rider Craig Williams (#26 from #36, +44pt) enjoyed a G1 double at Caulfield, also landing the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes with Sepals (enters at #91).
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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• 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.