International Recognition for Crawford Racing on TRC Global Rankings

A website well worth checking out is www.thoroughbredracing.com. In addition to articles covering racing from all around the world, it also features the fascinating TRC Global Rankings, a rigorous statistical approach to rating race-horses, sires, jockeys, trainers and owners. Sussed analyst James Willoughby is the man behind this ambitious project and his thoughtful insights are smart and provocative though bound to generate controversy.

Crawford Racing received a glowing mention in a piece by Chris Smith published on the 2nd February on the site, referencing the stable’s achievements on Sun Met day – see extract below.

“One former British champion whose position in the rankings is an excellent indication of his worldwide standing is Frankie Dettori. The Italian was in fine form in South Africa on Saturday, when he won the G1 Investec Cape Derby at Kenilworth on the country’s richest raceday, which featured four G1s. Dettori gains two points, strengthening his hold on the world #3 slot, but the real star of the day was trainer Brett Crawford. The 42-year-old Cape Town conditioner not only sent out Dettori’s winner, Edict Of Nantes, but also Whisky Baron, who took the richest race of the lot, the G1 Sun Met celebrated with Mumm Champagne (formerly the J&B Met). That gives Crawford a massive 17-point gain on the week, which fires him from 148th in the trainers’ standings all the way up to 85th, and sends him from sixth to second in the South African rankings.

Many of the biggest climbers across the newly updated rankings progressed because of success at Kenilworth – in South Africa only G1 races count towards the TRC Global Rankings, so because of their rarity value they tend to have a significant impact. Whisky Baron’s rider, Greg Cheyne, for instance, gains a whopping 13 points to move up from #455 to #223.”

It’s very satisfying when domestic accomplishments translate into international recognition and Brett is highly motivated to continue producing such notable results. Those victories by Whisky Baron and Edict of Nantes boosted his career tally of Grade 1 wins to 21 – a laudable milestone indeed. Brett is not one to rest on his laurels however, remaining focused on adding more big wins to the resume.