With top-class two-year-old racing dominating last week’s European fare and a pre-Breeders’ Cup hiatus in the States, there was little movement in the reaches of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Hong Kong sprint star Ka Ying Rising duly extended his stretch in pole position to 25 weeks ahead of Saturday’s Everest assignment in Australia, while Aidan O’Brien now has a total of 261 weeks at the head of the trainers’ list, while currently sidelined Ryan Moore is now up to 316 weeks at #1.
Godolphin are still well clear of the Coolmore team among owners, while the great Frankel leads the overall sires’ list, with Into Mischief the head honcho among dirt sires.
But while there was a distinct lack of movement towards the head of affairs, that is not to say there weren’t some noteworthy efforts. So here are five of them!
Precise
bet365 Fillies’ Mile (G1, Newmarket, Oct 10)
Most impressive big-race of the week was this Starspangledbanner filly, who produced a stylish performance to take her career record to four out of five, two of them in G1 events.
She is now favourite for next year’s 1,000 Guineas over G1-winning stablemate Diamond Necklace.
“Precise looks serious and a special filly,” said Aidan O’Brien. “We weren't sure how good she was but she looks a serious filly, make no mistake.”
Gewan
Dewhurst Stakes (G1, Newmarket, Oct 11)
Putting the memory of a disappointing run at Doncaster firmly behind him, Gewan sprang a 25-1 shock in Europe’s most prestigious juvenile contest.
Enjoying a quicker surface, the grey son of leading sire Night Of Thunder ran on to hold the favourite Gstaad by three-quarters of a length. “I don't think it was just the ground at Doncaster, but for some reason he just wasn't at his best,” said trainer Andrew Balding. “Hopefully he is a Guineas horse.”
The mile won’t be any issue and Gewan can be backed at 10-1 for the Classic. For the record, he moves up to #204 on the rankings, where jockey James Doyle (#52 from #61, +38) is also on the move.
Doyle was also successful in G3 company on Damysus for his retainers Wathnan Racing (#6 from #7, +36pt).
Lush Lips
Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup (G1, Keeneland, Oct 11)
Ex-Irish three-year-old who started her career with Donnacha O’Brien has been a model of consistency this year in the States, never worse than second in six starts for trainer Brendan Walsh (#54 from #64, +23pt).
With her first G1 success, Lush Lips climbs to #107 on TRC Rankings. “She’s progressed great throughout the year,” said jockey Tyler Gaffalione. “The race went perfectly. She broke great, put me in a good spot, relaxed beautifully, and when I asked her she really turned it on nice.”
Giga Kick
Schillaci Stakes (G2, Caulfield, Oct 11)
It’s been a long time between drinks for injury-prone Giga Kick, who hadn’t won a race of any kind for two and a half years. An explosive sprinter at this peak, the six-year-old hadn’t scored since the most recent of his two G1 wins at Doomben in May 2023 – but a seven-million dollar CV including the 2022 Everest illustrates his quality.
This one-length victory over Tropicus clearly meant a lot to his connections after a succession of setbacks since he tore a gluteal muscle in 2023. “He’s a champion,” said trainer Clayton Douglas. “It’s been a long build-up. He’s a six-year-old sprinter now. He’s mature but he’s got a good brain on him now.”
It was a good day in Melbourne for Royal Ascot-winning rider Mark Zahra (#29 from #39, +47pt), who also landed the G1 Toorak on Transatlantic.
Lindermann
Hill Stakes (G2, Rosehill, Oct 11)
Having beaten Melbourne Cup favourite Sir Delius on his previous outing, Lindermann (#62 from #106, +90pt) followed up here in emphatic style. The six-year-old gelding is in career-best form, giving rise to suggestions he might run in the Cox Plate – though next weekend’s King Charles III Stakes looks more likely.
“He's been running against the creme de la creme, so just that little bit of a drop back in grade today, not running against the superstars, he was really able to deliver in spades,” said world #5 trainer Chris Waller, who also claimed the Caulfield Guineas with Autumn Boy.
• 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.