Which jockey has ridden most winners for Charlie Appleby?

Charlie Appleby had worked for Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum in various capacities under Godolphin trainers David Loder, Saeed bin Suroor and Mahmood Al Zarooni before being appointed a Godolphin trainer, in his own right, in July, 2013. Appleby was thrust into the limelight under extraordinary circumstances, after Al Zarooni, who had previously held the training licence at Godolphin’s Moulton Paddocks, on the outskirts of Newmarket, was ‘warned off’ for eight years. The previous April, a British Horseracing Authority (BHA) Disciplinary Panel found Al Zarooni guilty of administering banned anabolic steroids and metered out one of the most severe suspensions ever.

At the time Appleby took over at Moulton Paddocks, Silvestre de Sousa was still a retained jockey for Goldolphin, albeit as first jockey to Goldophin’s longest-standing trainer, Saeed bin Suroor, at Godolphin Stables, formerly Stanley House, in Newmarket. However, when William Buick and James Doyle joined Godolphin as retained jockeys in January, 2015, de Sousa lost his retainer. Buick is officially first jockey to Charlie Appleby and, as such, has ridden the lion’s share of winners for the yard. At the last count, he had ridden 346 winners from 1,296 rides, at a strike rate of 27%. Unremarkably, Doyle is next best, with 132 winners from 522 rides, at a strike rate of 26%, but Adam Kirby, who has ridden most of his winners for the yard on all-weather surfaces, isn’t far behind, with 104 winners from 343 rides, at a strike rate of 30%.