Champs Elysees, Quijano top Canadian ratings

ETOBICOKE, Ontario - Champs Elysees and Quijano both have been assigned figures of 119 to rank in a dead heat for first place overall in the 2009 Canadian Thoroughbred Ratings.

Steve Lym, who is the racing secretary and a director of racing for the Woodbine Entertainment Group and also is a member of the World Thoroughbred and North American Thoroughbred ratings committees, compiled the ratings with input from racing officials in Western Canada.

:: CANADIAN THOROUGHBRED RATINGS: (PDF)

The lists were released by the Jockey Club of Canada on Tuesday.

Horses who finished 1-2-3 in stakes or in the top five in Grade 1 stakes in Canada last year were eligible and could be rated on their best performances anywhere in North America.

The ratings are broken down by distance according to the international SMILE (Sprint-Mile-Intermediate-Long-Extended) model, with the Long and Extended categories merged in the Canadian version.

Races shorter than a mile fall in the Sprint category, with Mile encompassing distances from one mile to 1 1/8 miles. Intermediate races range from 1 3/16 to 1 5/16 miles, with Long/Extended including 1 3/8 miles and longer.

Champs Elysees and Quijano earned their ratings in the Long/Extended category.

Champs Elysees, who was honored as Canada's Horse of the Year and top turf horse, was assigned his rating for his victory in Woodbine's Grade 1 Canadian International at 1o1/2 miles on the turf.

Quijano's rating was based on his performance in Woodbine's Grade 1 Northern Dancer, a 1 1/2-mile turf race in which he finished third, beaten a half-length, but was moved up to second upon the disqualification of first-place Marsh Side.

Weight factors into the ratings, and Quijano had carried 124 pounds, three more than Marsh Side and five more than Just as Well, who was promoted to first place.

Fatal Bullet, winner of Woodbine's 6 1/2-furlong Bold Venture in his only Canadian appearance last year, received a 114 rating for that effort to head the Sprint list.

The Mile category produced a tie, with Ventura and Forever Together both rated at 118.

Ventura captured the Grade 1 Woodbine Mile, a turf race that was her only Canadian appearance.

Forever Together's number is based on Woodbine's Grade 2 Canadian, a 1 1/8-mile turf race in which she finished a nose back in second while conceding 11 pounds to the winner, Princess Haya.

Lahaleeb, a major upsetter in Woodbine's Grade 1 E.P. Taylor at 1o1/4 miles, was assigned a 116 rating that puts her atop the Intermediate category.

The 2-year-old ratings are restricted to Sprint and Mile categories, with no races for the age group being run beyond 1 1/8 miles.

Biofuel, who won Woodbine's Grade 3 Mazarine at 1 1/16 miles and was a co-champion 2-year-old filly in Canada along with Negligee, was assigned a division-leading 111 rating for her fourth-place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita.

Bridgetown, who won Woodbine's Grade 3 Summer over one mile of turf in his only Canadian appearance, topped the male 2-year-olds with a 112 rating based on his close second-place finish in the Grade 2 Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf.