The World’s Best Racehorse Rankings were released last week by Longines, a few days before the Pegasus World Cup, and they got it right.
The Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings is the equine version to world rankings like the ATP Tennis Rankings, the World Golf Rankings and the FIFA World Rankings for soccer. The rankings are compiled by officials and handicappers from around the world representing five continents.
In the January 25 release of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Arrogate was the top rated with 134 pounds. The superstar validated that ranking with his tour de force and facile win in the $12 million Pegasus World Cup on Saturday January 28 when he earned a 116 Beyer Speed Figure.
Going into that race, California Chrome, who is trained by Art Sherman, was the second choice on the tote board. He was awarded one of the best World’s Best Racehorse Rankings of 133, right behind the leader, and will now live the life of leisure as a stud.
Here is where it can get tricky and where some in the United States need a bit of assistance. The third ranked runner is the Australian performer Winx and she certainly deserves the recognition.
The 5-year-old mare by Street Cry is a virtual win machine Down Under. After running second in a race in April of 2015, Winx has won 13 straight races. She was perfect in 2016, has won 17 of 23 in her career and has earned over $7 million. All of her starts have been on grass. She has beaten big fields of 14 or 15 rivals and she won basically a match race in October when she beat 2 other runners. In her final start of 2016, the runner was best by 8 lengths in the William Cox Plate.
Fourth on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings is the French racer Almanzor. This 4-year-old has an extremely bright future. He is also purely a turf horse but he has been able to win at 7 furlongs and at about a mile and five sixteenths. He has only lost twice in 10 starts and the first lost was in his toughest test to that date in a Group 1. His other loss was just by three-quarters of a length when he may not have handled a soft turf course. His last victory was as the favorite when he overcame a horrible start to win the Champion Stakes at Ascot in October.
Japanese racers secured the 5th and 6th spots on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings and both of those stars showed they could win outside of their home base. A Shin Hikari took the Prix d’Ispahan at Chantilly in a romp while Maurice started and ended the year in Hong Kong, winning both the Champions Mile and the Hong Kong Cup.
Frosted is another American-based runner on this prestigious list. His victory by 14 lengths in the Met Mile raised eyebrows and he was also very impressive when he won the Whitney Stakes.
The final runners were all rated at 124 pounds. Three did their racing in Europe and Werther has made his reputation around the globe including victories in Hong Kong.
Found is truly one of the best we have seen in years and she showed her class winning the Arc de Triomphe last year. Postponed was one of the runners that Found beat in the Arc and Hartnell was a multiple Group winner in Australia last year.
Other American runners on this list include the Kentucky Derby hero Nyquist and one of the best mares of all time Beholder. Dortmund has had the misfortune of just being born in the wrong year but he has not ducked anybody in his wonderful career and deserves to be on this list. Songbird, Tepin and Tourist were all rated at 122 by the Longines handicappers.
What this list goes to illustrate is that there are quality horses all over the world. Fans in the United States can get a bit jaded by just paying attention to what is going on at their local track or local circuit. A more productive approach would be to go the extra yard and get a concept on which runners from other countries excel.
This will only help when handicapping venues like Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Del Mar and Saratoga. One extra hour burning the midnight oil, could translate into a major windfall at the track.
