Charlie Appleby was crowned International Trainer of the Year for a fourth time at today's Horserace Writers & Photographers Awards (HWPA) at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London. The award, which has been sponsored by the International Racing Bureau since 1981, was presented by Adrian Beaumont.
Appleby was joined by Ralph Beckett, John and Thady Gosden and William Haggas on the contenders list, but it was Appleby who came out on top.
Charlie Appleby once again has had a fabulous season both in the UK and internationally. Horses hailing from his Moulton Paddocks base in Newmarket contested ten North American Grade 1 races during 2021 and won no less than eight of them, twice being followed home by a stablemate. Throw in the Jockey Club Derby at Belmont, a Grade 1 in all but name won by Yibir, and Appleby had an incredible nine big transatlantic triumphs during the year.
His crowning glory was, of course, the Breeders' Cup, where three of his four horses that did start at Del Mar came home in front, landing arguably the meeting's three most prestigious turf contests. His wins around Europe throughout the year were also impressive. Hurricane Lane took both the Irish Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris before his gallant Arc third; Space Blues landed the Prix de la Foret; and, over the Irish sea, Native Trail gave his handler a third National Stakes victory at The Curragh in the past four years.
International racing has once again been hugely popular with UK trainers. Remarkably, given the negative impact of Covid upon international travel, 2021 could yet become the highest grossing year ever in terms of overseas prize money earned by British trainers. At the time of writing, the total is a little shy of the blockbusting £29.7m accrued in 2018 but it is already the second largest tally. And, given the riches on offer at the Longines Hong Kong International meeting this coming Sunday, the £30 million barrier could yet be broken.
Adrian Beaumont said: “It has been an amazing year for international racing, especially given the extra protocols caused by Covid. British based trainers have won major races in Bahrain, Canada, Dubai, Saudi Arabia and the States as well as throughout Europe. It is remarkable that John and Thady Gosden won the world's richest race, the Saudi Cup with Mishriff, but didn't win our award due to Charlie Appleby's stellar season.”
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