World Racing's undefeated superstars FRANKEL and BLACK CAVIAR dominate the headlines following the release of the 2011 World Thoroughbred Rankings (WTR) by the International Federation of Horse Authorities in London.
In a remarkable year where BLACK CAVIAR won all eight starts including six at Group One level and extended her career winning sequence to sixteen, the Peter Moody- trained mare was assigned a rating of 132 by the WTR Committee, and for the second successive year, is the Champion Sprinter in the World.
BLACK CAVIAR had been published with an interim rating of 130 after her brilliant win in the Newmarket Handicap in March and in the final listings has had that rating lifted to 132.
Australia’s representative on the WTR Committee, Greg Carpenter said “The rating assigned to BLACK CAVIAR reflects her absolute dominance in the Newmarket Handicap where she gave weight and trounced her rivals to win in the fastest time ever recorded in the 138 year history of Australia’s iconic Sprint race.”
Since the ratings became truly international in 2002, the champion’s mark of 132 makes BLACK CAVIAR;
> The highest rated sprinter, exceeding the previous mark of 125 achieved by Oasis Dream in 2003
> The highest rated Mare, exceeding the previous mark of 130 achieved by Goldikova in 2009
> The highest rated Australian trained horse, exceeding the previous mark of 126 by So You Think in 2010.
BLACK CAVIAR headed the older sprint division ahead of Australian bred and Singapore trained ROCKET MAN (125). HAY LIST was next in the listings on 122 for his gallant 2nd placing behind Black Caviar in the T.J. Smith Stakes and the BTC Cup.
The 2011 World Thoroughbred Rankings take into account all performances throughout the world, irrespective of where individual horses raced or were trained, during the calendar year.
To merit inclusion in the rankings, a horse must have been rated at 115 or above in the period under review.
Of the 351 to make the rankings in 2011, 47 were Australian-trained, whilst a further 15 Australian-bred horses raced abroad with great distinction.
Aside from BLACK CAVIAR, exciting 3yo’s SEPOY and ATLANTIC JEWEL also were declared champions in their respective age and distance categories.
WORLD’S BEST PERFORMERS
The top rated horse for 2011 was unbeaten English superstar FRANKEL who achieved a rating of 136. This mark equals the highest rating assigned in the last decade, given to another undefeated Champion, Sea The Stars in 2009.
Trained by Sir Henry Cecil, FRANKEL won all five starts in 2011. He was assigned his rating of 136 for his victories in the G1 Sussex Stakes and the G1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes, where he beat older horses by big margins over the mile on both occasions.
Next in the listings was BLACK CAVIAR (132), ahead of French trained gelding CIRRUS DES AIGLES (128), winner of the UK Champion Stakes and German 3yo Filly DANEDREAM (128) who scored a brilliant 5 length victory in the Arc de Triomphe.
Dual Cox Plate winner SO YOU THINK was assigned a rating of 126 for his three wins at G1 level, in the Tattersall’s Gold Cup, Eclipse Stakes and the Irish Champion Stakes. He was rated equal 7th in the 2011 rankings.
AUSTRALIAN TRAINED HORSES
The total number of Australian-trained horses to make the World Thoroughbred Rankings increased to 47 from 43 in 2011. This represented the second highest number on record behind the 2009 total of 50.
“While BLACK CAVIAR, SEPOY, HAY LIST and ATLANTIC JEWEL were obvious standout performers, the depth of Australian racing was again shown by the total number of Australian trained horses included in the listings” Carpenter said.
“The Australian breeding industry also had a great result with a record total of 15 Australian bred horses trained outside of Australia in seven individual countries, Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa and UAE also included.”
“We also saw horses trained outside Australia in AMERICAIN, DUNADEN, JIMMY CHOUX, LION TAMER, MUFHASA, RED CADEAUX, SANGSTER and WALL STREET all producing World class performances in Australian races."
“It is also important to note that the number of Australian-trained horses to rate 120 or greater continues to grow with a record number of six in this elite category in 2011, up from five the year prior, four in 2009 and just two in 2008, which is a most pleasing progression.”
Joining Black Caviar, Sepoy, Hay List and Atlantic Jewel in the elite category were perennial star WHOBEGOTYOU and outstanding mare MORE JOYOUS, both rated 120.
AUSTRALIA’S GREAT RACE
The release of the 2011 World Thoroughbred Rankings again confirmed the Emirates Melbourne Cup’s billing as the world’s premier staying race.
For the second successive year, the highest rated performance in a race greater than 2700m was produced in the "Race that stops a Nation", with AMERICAIN assigned a mark of 123 for finishing 4th with 58kg, just 1.25len behind the winner DUNADEN who carried 54.5kg under the Handicap conditions of the race.
AMERICAIN's performance was rated superior to ORFEVRE’s (122) win in the Japanese St Leger, MASKED MARVEL’s (121) victory in the English St Leger, and the Ascot Gold Cup win of FAME AND GLORY (121).
“In winning the Emirates Melbourne Cup DUNADEN achieved a rating of 118, the 5th best performance in a staying race in 2011” Carpenter said.
“The reason AMERICAIN rated considerably higher than DUNADEN, is because he conceded his rival 3.5kg, which equates to about 6 lengths over 3200 metres,” he explained.
“In finishing only 1.25 lengths from DUNADEN, AMERICAIN ran to a considerably higher rating and produced one of the best staying performances on the world stage in the last decade.”
Only the champion mare MAKYBE DIVA has achieved a higher rating in a staying race, when she was assigned a mark of 124 when carrying 58kg to victory, in winning the Melbourne Cup for a history making third time in 2005. Japanese champion DEEP IMPACT also achieved a rating of 123 in winning the 2006 Tenno Sho (Spring) also at 3200m.
