Winx still leads world racehorse rankings

The Australian star mare Winx retained her position as the world’s leading racehorse, according to monthly rankings published Thursday by an international panel of handicappers, but the British star Poet’s Word has risen to second.

Winx is rated at 130 points, one higher than the retired Gun Runner and Poet’s Word, who has won consecutive Grade 1 races at Ascot in recent months – the Prince of Wales Stakes at the Royal meeting in June and the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on July 28.
Poet’s Word was tied for third, at 125, in rankings published in early July.

The rankings, sponsored by Longines, reflect performances of flat horses that have raced since Jan. 1. Gun Runner won his only start this year in the Pegasus World Cup at Gulfstream Park in January and was later retired to stud.

Winx won her 25th consecutive race in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes in Australia in April and is scheduled to have her next start in the Group 1 Winx Stakes at seven furlongs at Randwick Racecourse in Sydney, Australia, on Aug. 18. The race was formerly known as the Warwick Stakes, but has been renamed in honor of the famous mare.

In the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, Poet’s Word finished a neck in front of Crystal Ocean, who has risen in the rankings to be fourth, at 128. The remainder of the top 10, with ties, are Battaash and Cracksman, at 125; Justify and West Coast, at 124; and Benbatl, Happy Clapper, Thunder Snow and Trapeze Artist, at 123.

Justify and West Coast are the only other American-based runners in the top 10. Justify, the winner of the Triple Crown, has been retired to stud in Kentucky. West Coast, who was second in the Pegasus World Cup and second to Thunder Snow in the Dubai World Cup in March, recently resumed training in Southern California after a lengthy break through the spring.