Why Appleby's blistering start to the season is great news for racing
Is there anyone, anywhere, with the plausible exception of Mohamed Salah, in better form than Charlie Appleby? The Newmarket man has begun the season in ferocious style, which is very good for him and for Godolphin, and by extension for everyone else.
Appleby is currently running at a 45 per cent strike-rate, eight of his last 17 runners have won, and he dominated the Craven meeting with six wins over the three days. At first glance, the Newmarket Classic trials look more meritorious than those at Newbury, and Soliloquy and Masar took them both back to Moulton Paddocks.
Add to these successes those of Jungle Cat and Hawkbill at the Dubai World Cup, and possibly that of Blue Point in the Chairman's Sprint Prize at Sha Tin on Sunday, and it's plain that Appleby is rekindling the old times when Godolphin were omnipotent at home and abroad.
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