The Appleby Phenomenon

The Week in Review, by Bill Finley

Winning Breeders' Cup races is supposed to be hard. Doesn't Charlie Appleby know that?

The Breeders' Cup annually brings together the best trainers in the U.S. and many of the best in Europe. Wayne Lukas has won the most races, 20. Bob Baffert is next with 18. Chad Brown and Todd Pletcher are always forces. Aidan O'Brien brings a small army to the Breeders' Cup every year and has 16 winners to show for it, including three this year.

But Appleby stands alone. His numbers are remarkable. He has nine winners from just 17 starters. That's 53%. Lukas has won with 12% of his starters; Baffert with 13%. O'Brien, Appleby's main rival in Europe, is 16-for-169 in the Breeders' Cup, which makes him a 9% winner.

Appleby won his first Breeders' Cup race in 2013, capturing the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with Outstrip (GB) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}). But it was last year when he first served notice that he could do things than no other trainer could do. He entered three races and won all three.

He made it a record four straight when winning the first Breeders' Cup race on Friday's card, the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf with Mischief Magic (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}). It would have been five straight if Silver Knott (GB) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) hadn't broken a few steps slow in the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, a race he lost by a nose to the O'Brien-trained Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}).

That was Friday. On Saturday he finished third with Creative Force (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint. He won the GI Breeders' Cup Mile with Modern Games (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) and then won the GI Breeders' Cup Turf with Rebel's Romance (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}). Nations Pride (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) ran fifth in the Turf for Appleby, the rare horse from his stable that underperformed.

Over a two-year span, he's entered eight Breeders' Cup races and won six of them. How does he do it?

That he trains for the mighty Godolphin Stable is where you have to start. It provides him with a bottomless well of talent. But there's something more to it than that. Appleby clearly has figured out what horses from his stable fit best in North American racing and when he comes over here, he always comes over with a horse who is ready for their very best efforts. That's how he often gets it done with horses who aren't necessarily big stars at home. Rebel's Romance was coming out of Group 1 race in Germany, where the competition falls short of what it is in Great Britain, France and Ireland. Mischief Magic had won nothing better than a Group 3 race in Great Britain before finishing fourth, beaten four lengths, in the G1 Middle Park S.

And it's not just in the Breeders' Cup. Appleby is 17-for-35 (49%) over the last two years in North America. In addition to the Breeders' Cup races, he has won the GI Saratoga Derby Invitational, the GI Woodbine Mile S., the GIII Jockey Club Derby Invitational, the GIII Saratoga Oaks Invitational, the GI Canadian International, the GI Diana S., the GI Just a Game S., the GI Natalma S., and two editions of the GI Summer S.

It seems impossible that someone can enter only top class races and win almost 50% of the time, but that's exactly what he does when he comes here.

Appleby is only 47 years old and figures to be a force in the Breeders' Cup for years to come. It's not's hard to see him rewriting the record book some day. He's that good.

Sadler for the HOF

Somehow, John Sadler has been overlooked by Hall of Fame nominators and voters, a mistake that may now be rectified due to his outstanding work with GI Breeders' Classic winner and future Horse of the Year Flightline (Tapit).

Long before Flightline came along, Sadler was a prolific winner while performing at the top levels of the sport. He's won 2,715 races, good for 17%. He has 186 graded stakes wins, 45 of them in Grade I races. Along with Accelerate (Lookin at Lucky), he's won two runnings of the Classic. He's won the GI Pacific Classic four times, including four of the last five runnings, and the GI Santa Anita H. three times. When it comes to success with older male dirt runners, Sadler is as good as it gets.

Don't think that just anyone could have done with Flightline what he did. He had to guide the horse through a number of niggling problems, always seemed to make the right calls and stood up admirably to the pressure of training the best horse in the world. He's a Hall of Famer.

A Huge Couple of Days for the Europeans

The European contingent simply outclassed the Americans this year, winning six of the seven grass races. The only turf win for the U.S. came in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint, won by Pennsylvania-bred Caravel (Mizzen Mast). That was no surprise since American horses have won 14 of 15 editions of the Turf Sprint, a race where the Europeans are clearly at a disadvantage. And the Europeans came close in the Turf Sprint, finishing second, third and fourth.

Speaking of Caravel, there always seems to be at least one Breeders' Cup winner that just doesn't make any sense and it was her. She ran Beyer figures of 81 and 89 in her two prior starts, which didn't make her nearly fast enough to win. (She got a 105 for the win). But when Golden Pal (Uncle Mo) broke slowly, jockey Tyler Gaffalione seized the opportunity and made the lead. Gamely, she held on to win by a half-length. A job well done for Gaffalione, trainer Brad Cox and bettors who nailed the impossible longshot at 42-1.

Major Stables Dominate

These were your winning Breeders' Cup trainers: Chad Brown, Cox, Bill Mott (2), O'Brien (3), Appleby (3), Todd Pletcher (2), Sadler and Mark Casse. This was not a Breeders' Cup for the little guy. Only Marcelo Polanco, whose won only three races this year, came close, losing the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff by a nose with Blue Stripe (Arg) (Equal Stripes {Arg}). You have to feel for Polanco, who has won just nine graded stakes in his career and just a combined seven races over the last three years. But he can be proud that he had his mare ready to run the race of her life.

Flightline Is Retired

I guess the owners of Flightline didn't get a chance to read my column in Sunday's TDN imploring them to bring the superstar back for another year of racing. Or it fell on deaf ears. About the time the ink had dried on the column they announced his retirement.

I actually thought there was a chance they would bring him back, which now seems hopelessly naive. The lure of the stallion shed and the riches it will bring won out. How do you walk away from all that money? Probably, there never was a chance he would run again.

I get it. No hard feelings. Thanks for a wonderful, albeit short, run and the memories. What a horse.