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Australian sprinters have retained their place as the world’s best in the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2014 released by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities.
Australian horses dominate the Sprint division with Lankan Rupee and Terravista sharing the top rating of 123 ahead of another local star Chautauqua (122).
The Mick Price-trained Lankan Rupee was the dominant sprinter in the first half of 2014 when he won a treble of G1 sprints in the Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield, Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at Flemington and T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick.
Those wins earned him the Australian Racehorse of the Year title before he added the G1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley to his record.
Lankan Rupee’s rating of 123 was assessed on his win in Newmarket Handicap, where he carried 56.5kg to win by more than two lengths and equalled that figure with his dominant victory in the T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick where he beat Rebel Dane and Buffering.
The Joseph Pride Terravista was the star of the spring, rising from a series of stakes wins in Sydney to win the G 1 Darley Classic (1200m) at Flemington beating Chautauqua and Lankan Rupee to earn his rating of 123.
Chautauqua, trained by Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes, won the G2 Gilgai Stakes (1200m) and G3 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) before his long head second to Terravista in the Darley Classic.
Other Australian-trained horses to figure prominently in the WBRR ratings are multiple G1 winners Dissident (121) and Sacred Falls (120).
A total of 40 Australian-trained horses have been included in the ratings and another nine internationally trained horses recorded performances of 115 or higher in Australian races.
German stayer Protectionist earned a ranking of 120 for his win in the G1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) which placed him alongside Japan’s Gold Ship as the world’s highest rated stayer for 2014.
Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner It’s A Dundeel, Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti (121), Cox Plate winner Adelaide (120), BMW winner Silent Achiever (117), George Ryder winner Gordon Lord Byron (116), Side Glance (116), Farraaj (115) and Red Cadeaux (115) were other internationally-trained horses who achieved a rating of 115+ in Australian races.
The top rated horses in 2014 were the Japanese pair Just A Way (130) and Epiphaneia (129), the first time Japan-trained horses have topped the WBRR.
Just A Way secured the top rating for his win in the G1 Dubai Duty Free (1800m) and Epiphaneia for her win in the G1 Japan Cup.
The 10 top ranked horses in the WBRR comprised five from Europe, three from Asia, one from North America and one from South Africa.
Five horses achieved a ranking of 127 including Hong Kong star Able Friend for his devastating five lengths win in the G1 Hong Kong Mile in December.
He shared that figure with English Derby winner Australia, fellow European classic winners [nThe Great Gatsby[/n] and Kingman and South African champion Variety Club for his win in the G1 Champions Mile at Sha Tin.
Champion French mare Treve received a ranking of 126 for her second successive win in the G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (2400m) while G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Bayern (125) was the top rated horse from the US.
