In-form trainers to follow after Royal Ascot
From Mick Appleby to his namesake Charlie, Adam Houghton looks at which trainers came out of Royal Ascot as the big winners and losers.
🌟🌟🌟
Mick Appleby
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 1/5 (20%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 100.00%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 79.20%
Mick Appleby endured a difficult start to the turf season in Britain – he saddled only five winners from 135 runners in the months of April and May combined – but his fortunes have taken a big turn for the better with eight winners from 42 runners (19% strike rate) in the last 14 days alone, headlined by a breakthrough success at Royal Ascot when Big Evs won Wednesday's Windsor Castle Stakes at 20/1.
It's fair to say that Appleby enjoyed a productive time of things at the Royal meeting full stop, even though he only saddled five runners and they all returned an SP of 18/1 or above.
A Timeform run-to-form percentage of 100.00% highlights that all five horses ran at least as well as could have been expected judged on their pre-race ratings, with other notable results coming courtesy of Annaf, third in the King's Stand Stakes at 50/1, and Juan Les Pins, who filled the same position in the Wokingham Stakes at 18/1.
Out of the trainers who saddled five or more runners at Royal Ascot, Appleby was also ranked first by percentage of rivals beaten, highlighting that his horses were generally passing the post with more runners behind them than in front.
Aidan O'Brien (64.62%) – who was crowned leading trainer at the meeting for the twelfth time – was next best by this measure, so Appleby was certainly keeping good company in a week when the yard confirmed it has well and truly turned the corner.
Leading trainers at Royal Ascot 2023 by RTF%*
- Mick Appleby 100.00%
- Archie Watson 81.25%
- Willie Mullins 80.00%
- Dominic Ffrench Davis 77.78%
- James Ferguson 75.00%
*Minimum five runners
🌟🌟
Archie Watson
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 3/16 (19%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 81.25%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 56.88%
Royal Ascot hasn't always been a happy hunting ground for Archie Watson, who was cruelly a denied a first Group One victory at the meeting when Dragon Symbol passed the post first in the 2021 Commonwealth Cup but was subsequently demoted for causing interference.
That surely made the win of Bradsell in Tuesday's King's Stand Stakes even sweeter for a trainer who ended up saddling three winners over the course of the week, only one fewer than Aidan O'Brien and John and Thady Gosden at the top of the table.
Rhythm N Hooves (Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes) and Saint Lawrence (Wokingham Stakes) also advertised Watson's skills when it comes to training sprinters by landing big-field handicaps, while Army Ethos looked a two-year-old to follow when only narrowly failing to give his connections a second successive win in the Coventry Stakes after that of Bradsell in 2022.
Watson's other 12 runners all finished out of the first six, but his run-to-form percentage of 81.25% underlines that they generally performed with credit. That figure was bettered by only the aforementioned Mick Appleby, while Watson also ranked third by strike rate and eighth by percentage of rivals beaten.
With winners at 12/1, 14/1 and 22/1, Watson proved one of the most profitable trainers to follow at this year's Royal meeting, too, with a return of £35.00 to a £1 level stake.
🌟
Willie Mullins
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 1/5 (20%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 80.00%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 57.40%
The Closutton maestro obviously wasn't as all-conquering at Royal Ascot as we've come to expect at the likes of the Cheltenham and Punchestown Festivals, but it was still another good week for Willie Mullins as he took his career tally at the meeting to nine courtesy of Vauban, an emphatic winner of Tuesday's Copper Horse Handicap.
Vauban had been forced to settle for a minor role at both Cheltenham and Punchestown in the spring, but he could be called the winner of this valuable handicap from some way out on his return to the Flat, making nearly every yard of the running to win by seven and a half lengths from Absurde, who made good late headway from rear to complete a one-two for the stable.
That made up for the disappointment of favourite Bring On The Night in the Ascot Stakes earlier on the card, while Echoes In Rain ran about as well as could be expected when finishing eighth in Thursday's Gold Cup, just lacking a turn of foot and the class to get involved in the straight.
Ranked third by run-to-form percentage and sixth by percentage of rivals beaten, Mullins once again showed his ability to get the very best out of the firepower at his disposal – Flat or jumps – and he'll be relishing the challenge with Vauban as he tries to get that horse to the Melbourne Cup later this year in the best possible shape.
❌
Karl Burke
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 0/16 (0%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 62.50%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 59.06%
Karl Burke experienced a frustrating week at Royal Ascot rather than a downright disappointing one, with lots of his horses running well but just not quite managing to hit the target.
Six of his 16 runners finished in the first five, including the highly-regarded two-year-olds Beautiful Diamond and Elite Status, both of whom finished third, in the Queen Mary Stakes and Norfolk Stakes, respectively. At much bigger odds, Swingalong ran a cracker when filling the same position in Friday's Commonwealth Cup, while Holloway Boy wasn't beaten far at all when fourth in the Jersey Stakes the following afternoon.
It was one of those weeks for Burke where the 0 in the column titled 'winners' doesn't tell the whole story, but a run-to-form percentage of 62.50% is certainly symptomatic of a yard for whom the horses were generally giving a good account of themselves.
Ranked joint-ninth by that measure, Burke fared better still by percentage of rivals beaten, with only Mick Appleby, Aidan O'Brien and Simon and Ed Crisford (64.00%) finishing ahead of him on that front.
Leading trainers at Royal Ascot 2023 by % of rivals beaten*
- Mick Appleby 79.20%
- Aidan O'Brien 64.62%
- Simon & Ed Crisford 64.00%
- Karl Burke 59.06%
- Ian Williams 59.00%
*Minimum five runners
❌❌
Andrew Balding
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 0/26 (0%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 57.69%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 49.92%
No trainer had more runners at Royal Ascot without managing to get on the scoreboard than Andrew Balding, who had to settle for a trio of runner-up finishes as he endured his first blank year since 2018, including when saddling the favourite in two of the most prestigious races of the week.
2000 Guineas winner Chaldean was unable to match his Newmarket form when finding Paddington too good in Tuesday's St James's Palace Stakes – his first defeat when completing since his debut – while Coltrane ran his usual honest race in the Gold Cup but had to give best to another big improver in the shape of Courage Mon Ami.
In truth, aside from that pair, Balding didn't have that many big guns to fire at the meeting and only two of his other 24 runners were sent off at single-figure odds, namely Frankness (sixth at 9/1 in the Palace of Holyroodhouse Stakes) and Teumessias Fox (fifteenth at 9/2 in the Duke of Edinburgh Stakes).
Even so, a run-to-form percentage of 57.69% highlights that plenty of his horses just weren't turning up for one reason or another, whether fancied or not, while his percentage of rivals beaten figure comes in at around 50% – essentially what it would be if all his horses had finished in mid-division.
A surprisingly middling week for a trainer who has set such high standards for himself in recent years.
❌❌❌
Charlie Appleby
- Winners/runners (strike rate): 0/18 (0%)
- Run-to-form percentage: 50.00%
- Percentage of rivals beaten: 49.72%
Speaking of high standards, they don't come much higher than those set by Charlie Appleby, who was crowned champion trainer in Britain for the second year in a row in 2022. The highlights that season included four winners at Royal Ascot, including a pair of Group One wins with Coroebus (St James's Palace) and Naval Crown (Platinum Jubilee Stakes).
This season has been more of a struggle altogether for Appleby, though, and he's saddled just one winner at the top level in 2023 – Modern Games in the Lockinge Stakes – while his strike rate in May dipped to 18%, the lowest it had been for a single month in quite some time.
There have at least been signs of a revival since the start of June and Appleby would have been hoping to kick on at Royal Ascot. In the event, however, it just didn't happen and three third-place finishes was the best he could muster, with several of his so-called stable stars failing to come up to scratch, as Dave Ord discussed in his Royal Ascot reflections.
The competition at Royal Ascot is obviously tougher than anywhere else, but a run-to-form percentage of 50.00% is still alarmingly low for this team, and so too a figure of 49.72% for percentage of horses beaten.
The conveyor belt of bluebloods at Moulton Paddocks is sure to throw up another star or two before too long, but Appleby can be forgiven if his patience is starting to wear thin after a trying week for all concerned.
More from Sporting Life
Responsible gambling
We are committed in our support of responsible gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133, or visit begambleaware.org.
Further support and information can be found at GamCare and gamblingtherapy.org.
Next Off
Most Followed
MOST READ RACING
