It’s the halfway mark in the UK trainer’s championship, and Andrew Balding has increased his lead over his nearest rival Charlie Appleby to nearly £424 000. Successful this month at the Ebor festival with Valley Forge in the Melrose Stakes, his juveniles Hoo Ya Mal and Harrow also won features at the York meeting.
The Park House Stables need to keep up this steady flow of winners as reigning champion trainer John Gosden has closed the gap into third place. One of his leading older horses, Mishriff was highly impressive when victorious in the £1million Gr1 Juddmonte International. Mishriff, currently one of the highest earning horses in the world with over £11million in stakes is due back for one of the lucrative races at Ascot on Champions Day in October.
Charlie Appleby is aiming his stable star, the Epsom hero Adayar at the Arc, which is run at ParisLongchamp and prize money from that race will not count towards the UK trainers title. Stablemate and dual Derby winner (Ireland and France), Hurricane Lane goes for the Gr1 St Leger at Doncaster in mid-September and will help the Godolphin operation in their bid for title honours.
Aiden O’Brien, with a mere nine winners is fourth on the log with nearly £2.8m in stakes. With the autumn juvenile group races still to be decided together with the large string he will send to Ascot, he’s not out of it. His unbeaten juvenile Point Lonsdale is ante-post favourite for the Gr1 Vertem Futurity Trophy over a mile a Doncaster at the end of the season. Another Ballydoyle star, St Mark’s Basilica is being targeted at the Gr1 Champion Stakes at Ascot after being forced to miss the Juddmonte with a slight injury. A rematch with Mishriff in the Gr1 Champion Stakes is not to be missed and could well decide the UK champion trainer’s title.
Current UK Trainers log:
Andrew Balding 113 wins 613 runs Total Stakes £3,435,771
Charlie Appleby 70 wins 251 runs Total Stakes £3,012,006
John & Thady Gosden 89 wins 419 runs Total Stakes £2,963,048
Aidan O’Brien 9 wins 95 runs Total Stakes £2,764,729
(as at 30 August 2021)
The championship data is based on flat trainer prizemoney totals that run from January to December.
Reigning champion jockey Oisin Murphy is 1/8 to regain his title after riding an incredible 40 winners during August and that was up to 30th. With 118 wins to date he looks like smashing last year’s winning total of 142. William Buick has just notched up a century of winners and currently occupies second position. The strike rates of both these top riders is over 21%, well worth following as they battle for the 2021 UK jockey’s title that ends in mid-October at Ascot.
Current UK Jockey’s log:
Oisin Murphy 118 wins 498 rides Strike Rate 24%
William Buick 100 wins 484 rides Strike Rate 21%
Tom Marquand 92 wins 525 rides Strike Rate 18%
(as at 30 August 2021)
The jockey flat championship runs from the 2000 Guineas until Champions Day in October.
