Equinox has been announced as the highest-rated Japanese horse of all time and the world's best racehorse of 2023.

Equinox has been announced as the highest-rated Japanese horse of all time and the world’s best racehorse of 2023.

The date is Christmas Day 2005. The location is Nakayama, Tokyo. The race is the Arima Kinen and the result…well, that would make a significant impact on the UK and Irish Flat season, eighteen years later.

Equinox justified his status as the best turf horse in the world, smashing the Meydan mile-and-a-half track record in landing the $6million Longines Dubai Sheema Classic.

Christophe Lemaire, the French jockey who has carved a niche for himself in Japan over the past nine seasons, has made clear his desire to add the Dubai World Cup to his already enviable CV.