He has done it… a freak racehorse has cemented his place in racing’s history books.
There can be only one place to start this week, and that’s in Hong Kong, where our #1 horse scored his 20th consecutive victory on Sunday.
Horse of the Week
Ka Ying Rising (#1)
Great just got greater. Perhaps great just became all-time great.
Those things are a matter of conjecture because they have imprecise meaning and subjective classification.
What’s for sure is that both the height and depth of Ka Ying’s accomplishments are unparalleled in modern times by any horse not called Winx.
His dominant victory in the Group 1 Chairman’s Sprint Prize set another track record at Sha Tin and he did it with trademark ease.
What’s rare about him as a sprinter is that he runs with the controlled power of a miler and finishes his races very strongly, despite recording extremely fast mid-race splits.
He’s one of a kind.
Runner-up: Daryz (#7)
Jockey of the Week
Yutaka Take (#32 from #46)
The godfather of the Japanese jockey colony was successful on both his mounts in Grade 2s this week, the Aobo Sho on Going To Sky and the Yomiuri Milers Cup on Admire Zoom.
Now approaching 5,000 winners and evergreen at the age of 57, he’s a legend, a phenomenon and one of the greatest jockeys in history.
Now, Take has had his critics among certain European observers over the years, but he has silenced the doubters time and time again and is an outstanding rider by any measure.
Runner-up: James McDonald (#1)
Trainer of the Week
We don’t play favourites but still yield to nobody in our admiration of the new superstar trainer of French racing: ‘FHG’.
By dint of our methodology, the algorithm was somewhat circumspect about Daryz’s victory in last year’s Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe on account of it being such a step forward on anything else he had done.
Not anymore.
With FHG as his trainer and time to improve his charge again, the result was a stunning victory for Daryz the Group 1 Prix Ganay on his four-year-old debut.
The Arc remains clearly the world #7 horse’s best effort in terms of hard achievement, but the impression created here was unmistakable.
Graffard also saddled Asmarani to win the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville and is hot on the heels of the ‘big six’ in our trainer rankings, all of whom have had much longer to build up their operation.
Runner-up: David A Hayes (#8)
Turf Sire of the Week
Sea The Stars (#3 from #4)
The highly influential Sea The Stars climbs to world #3 in the turf-only sires category this week, thanks to a double of Group race wins.
As well as being responsible for Ganay winner Daryz, the Gilltown producer was also represented by the promising Group 3 Classic Trial winner Raaheeb at Sandown in Great Britain.
In addition, the third-placed finishes of Aventure in the Ganay and Sosie in the QEII Cup at Sha Tin were reminders of the depth of his roster of progeny.
Runner-up: Acclamation (#14 from #16)
Dirt Sire of the Week
Practical Joke (#9 from #10)
Only one race on dirt counted towards our rankings this week and Practical Joke sired its winner.
So, his award is automatic.
But Simply Joking’s victory in the four-runner Grade 3 Santa Maria Stakes isn’t the only good strike the son of #1 sire Into Mischief has enjoyed this season.
Amazingly, Practical Joke also won this same award when Tejano Twist won the Grade 3 Whitmore Stakes back in March.
Talk about timing.
The Ashford Stud stalwart is an excellent sire of both turf and dirt winners.
Runner-up: Quality Road (#8)
Nancy Sexton probed the health of Indian racing and bloodstock
Catrin Nack profiled a racing photographer with an interesting backstory
James Burn profiled Kazakhstan in the latest edition of Every Corner Covered
View the latest Global Rankings for horses, owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys