THE year after next Charlie Appleby will be a decade into his tenure as a Godolphin trainer. But perhaps more significantly, he’ll be 25 years a Godolphin employee. And while the circumstances around his promotion to one of the biggest jobs in world racing could be described as unceremonious at the very least, time has told, he was an inspired choice to take over at Moulton Paddocks.

Just five months after his appointment, Appleby sent out his first top-level winner for Godolphin, when Outstrip powered home to win at the Breeders’ Cup. Since then there have been 42 more Group/Grade 1 victories all over the world. Some of those have been monumental for Sheikh Mohammed. A first Derby win in the Godolphin blue and a first Melbourne Cup. Appleby has also handled the careers of a champion sprinter in Blue Point, a champion two-year-old in Pinatubo and just last year, a world champion in Ghaiyyath.