Cracksman, Winx tied atop world racehorse rankings

Cracksman joined Winx as the highest-rated racehorse of 2018 in the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

Cracksman won the Group 1 Champion Stakes on QIPCO British Champions Day by six lengths over high-class Crystal Ocean, boosting his rating to 130. That’s the same rating achieved by the Australian superstar mare Winx, whose most recent effort produced a third win in the Group 1 Cox Plate. Winx’s rating remained unchanged from the last WBRR update in October, but the rankings committee operating under the auspices of the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities boosted Cracksman from 125 following his tour de force at Ascot.

The newest rankings come after the Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs, but races during that two-day event barely moved the WBRR needle. Accelerate, the BC Classic winner, retained his rating of 125, while the highest-rated dirt horse in the world remains Gun Runner (129), who was retired following his win almost 10 months ago in the Pegasus World Cup. The WBBR rate Justify, the Triple Crown winner, at 124.

Enable won the BC Turf, but her rating of 125 attained after her win in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe remained unchanged. Roaring Lion, who flopped in the BC Classic, was rated 127 before a hard-fought Oct. 20 win in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot and retained that rating.

The committee might have underrated City of Light, who was rated just 120 following a powerful win in the BC Dirt Mile. Roy H, the BC Sprint winner, was rated 122, two points higher than before his dominant win at Churchill on last Saturday.

Beauty Generation, the best miler (if not the best horse) in Hong Kong, had his rating raised from 123 to 126.

:: Want to get the latest news with your past performances? Try DRF’s new digital PPs.