Gladiatorus ranked world's best

The front-running victory of Gladiatorus in the Dubai Duty Free on Saturday has propelled him into first place among horses in training in the World Thoroughbred Rankings through March 29.

A 4-year-old son of Silic (a Breeders' Cup Mile winner) trained by Mubarak bin Shafya, Gladiatorus was switched to Saeed bin Suroor's Godolphin stable almost immediately after his handy 3 1/4-length Duty Free score. He is rated at 126, one pound ahead of Breeders' Cup winners Conduit, Goldikova. and Zenyatta, and two-time Arc runner-up Youmzain.

The ranking committee didn't think very highly of Well Armed's 14-length Dubai World Cup victory, rating him in a four-way tie for sixth with Hong Kong miler Good Ba Ba, Arc third It's Gino, and Prix de la Foret winner Paco Boy, who only managed to finish only eighth in the Duty Free. By contrast, Well Armed received a Racing Post Rating of 128 for his World Cup victory, while Gladiatorus was pegged at 127 for his run in the Duty Free.