Arrogate named world’s best racehorse of 2016

Bob Baffert’s four-year-old had a rating of 134 after his half-length victory over California Chrome at Santa Anita in November, a rating which matched the figure achieved by 2015 champion American Pharoah, who was also trained by Baffert.

The only United States-based horse to be rated higher in the past two decades is Cigar, who finished 1996 at 135.

California Chrome is the world’s second highest-rated horse in flat racing with a rating of 133. The Art Sherman- trained star enjoyed a fine 2016 which included top-class performances in winning the $1 million TVG Pacific Classic and Awesome Again Stakes, and was named American Horse of the Year at last week’s prestigious Eclipse Awards.

Arrogate and California Chrome will meet again on the track this weekend in the inaugural running of the $12 million Pegasus World Cup – the world’s richest horserace – at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

The highest-rated turf performer is star Australian mare Winx, who earned a rating of 132 thanks to success in the Cox Plate during the Melbourne Spring Carnival.

The top-rated European-trained horse, Almanzor, is in fourth, and one of only three European-trained horses feature among the top ten in the world. The Jean Claude-Rouget-trained horse achieved a rating of 129 thanks to victories in the Prix du Jockey Club, the Irish Champion Stakes and the Champion Stakes.

Found and Postponed were the other two European-trained horses to make the top ten with their rating of 124 sharing the honour of being the highest-rated horses from Britain or Ireland.

There was a strong crop of Japanese colts in 2016, and the Satsuki Sho (Japanese 2000 Guineas) and the Tokyo Yushun (Japanese Derby) were the best three-year-old races in the world with a rating of 119.75, just ahead of the Investec Derby.

The Breeders’ Cup Classic was the world’s best race from a ratings perspective with the average rating of the first four home in the Classic being 125.25, while the Qipco Irish Champion Stakes had the second-highest average with 124.75.

The annual competition to recognise the top jockeys throughout the world was won by Ryan Moore who presented with his prize for the Longines World’s Best Jockey at a ceremony last month.

The Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings are horseracing’s equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as the ATP Tennis Rankings, FIFA’s World Football Rankings and IRB’s Rugby World Rankings.

The rankings are based on the ratings earned by horses running worldwide from North and South America, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Asia through to Australia and New Zealand.

They are compiled by The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) by racing officials and handicappers representing the five continents who compile the ranking order by agreeing on the rating for each horse. Those ratings are based on the performance of horses in elite races held during the designated period which takes into account the quality of opposition and achievements of each horse.

Throughout the year the Longines Rankings are published at regular intervals and the consolidated annual rankings released in January reflect the champions in the various distance categories.

Longines World’s Best Racehorse 2016
Top 10 ratings

1. Arrogate 134
2. California Chrome 133
3. Winx 132
4. Almanzor 129
5. = A Shin Hakari, Maurice 129
7. Frosted 126
8.= Found, Postponed, Hartnell, Werther 124