For some horse racing trainers, their success can be as much about the owners that employ their services is as is their own skill. Whilst no one would be willing to suggest that Charlie Appleby isn’t a good trainer in his own right, it is also important to acknowledge that he works for the Maktoum family’s private thoroughbred racing stable, Godolphin.
The main himself would, rightly, argue that he wouldn’t have got the gig if he wasn’t an excellent trainer, which has seen him win countless races not only in the United Kingdom but also much further afield, being named World Trainer in 2021.
About
Charlie Appleby’s career in racing began when he was a youngster looking to earn his place in the jockey circuit, riding in numerous point-to-point events as well as amateur flat races. Ultimately, though, his talents led him elsewhere, and he began working as a stable boy for Sheikh Mohammed of the Maktoum family. In the years that followed, he worked his way up through the organisation, becoming Travelling Head Lad and then Stable Head Lad before taking on the role of Assistant Trainer. It was in the July of 2013, after 13 years working with Godolphin, that he became a trainer in his own right.
He saddled his first winner of a G1 race later that year when Outstrip was the victor of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Santa Anita in the United States of America. In the years that followed, he saddled more than 1,000 winners, of which his first domestic victory came in the Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket as part of Dubai Future Champions Day. In 2015, he enjoyed his first winner in the week of Royal Ascot, seeing Space Age cross the finish line first in the King George V Stakes. That would prove to be just the start of his relationship with the famous meeting.
Major Successes
If you’re a Godolphin trainer, there aren’t many races that you aren’t expected to win at some point during your career. That is the position that Appleby has found himself in, picking up wins all across the globe. Perhaps 2017 is the best summary of that, with an Appleby-trained horse winning a G1 race in Australia, the US and two in France. When the Dubai World Cup Carnival took place in 2018, Appleby was named the Champion Trainer. Perhaps most noteworthy was the win of Masar at Epsom Racecourse in the June of that year, becoming the first Godolphin horse to win the Derby.
If you look across the world of flat racing, there is barely an event that Appleby hasn’t trained the winner of. In fact, there aren’t even that many countries that he hasn’t enjoyed success in, with the assumption being that if he hasn’t trained a winner somewhere then the likelihood is that that country doesn’t do flat racing meetings. From the United States of America to Australia, Ireland to the United Arab Emirates, name a major event hosted in that country and you will almost certain have seen Appleby in the Winners’ Enclosure at some point or another, such is his level of skill as a trainer.
Here is a look at just some of the races that Charlie Appleby has won at least once using his career:
- 1,000 Guineas
- 2,000 Guineas
- Coronation Cup
- The Derby
- King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes
- St Leger Stakes
- Grand Prix de Paris
- Grosser Preis von Baden
- Dubai Sheema Classic
- Breeders’ Cup Mile
Horses Trained
Masar wins The Derby!
A career-defining moment for William Buick, Charlie Appleby & @godolphin as the New Approach colt becomes their first Derby winner.#DerbyDay #TheSupremeTest pic.twitter.com/9TrzA2ldSi
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) June 2, 2018
Whilst Appleby’s skill as a trainer is undeniable, even the man himself would likely be quick to credit the Godolphin system for the number of wins that he’s been able to notch up over the years. The yard is one of the best in the world in flat racing, which is why he has been able to work with so many world-class horses. From Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Wuheida through to Melbourne Cup victor Cross Counter, if there is a talented flat racing horse around then there is a very good chance that the horse’s owner will have at least tried to get Appleby on board as its trainer.
Here is a look at some of the more standout names he’s trained:
Notable Speech
Notable Speech wasn’t the first horse that Appleby won the 2,000 Guineas with, the honour for which goes to Coroebus, but there is an argument to be made that he might be the most impressive. That is thanks to the fact that the horse won the Classic event in his first run on turf, becoming the first horse since before the Second World War to win the race without having run as a two-year-old. Trained by Appleby and ridden by William Buick for Godolphin, Notable Speech won the race in one minute and 37.21 seconds. It was the first of two successive wins for the trio, who also won it with Ruling Court a year later.
Masar
Given the sheer number of win that Appleby has enjoyed during his career, he probably wouldn’t say that he has a favourite horse that he’s worked with. In his heart of hearts, though, the fact that Masar was the horse that won him his first Classic means that he would probably earn the crown. The horse was highly-tried as a two-year-old, taking part in big races in both France and the United States of America. He struggled in Dubai, but when he returned to Europe he won the Craven Stakes and was favourite for the 2,000 Guineas, coming third, before winning the Derby at Epsom.
Adayar
Just three years after Masar’s success in the Derby, Appleby trained another win of the race in Adayar. If you thought that that’s the only reason his name is on the list, however, you should think again. Winning a Classic will always be a noteworthy achievement, but the horse proved his mettle in his first start after his Derby success when he became the first horse in two decades to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. A son of Frankel, the horse retired having won two of the biggest races in flat racing, as well as the likes of the Gordon Richards stakes two years later.
