Frankel tops World Rankings

Juddmonte Farms' Frankel was rated the top horse in the world when the 2011

World Thoroughbred Rankings were released Tuesday by the International

Federation of Horseracing Authorities. The British-trained three-year-old miler

was given a rating of 136, while the older Australian sprinting mare Black

Caviar was rated at 132. Both horses remain undefeated and both remain in

training for 2012 when hopefully they will be fully tested and their still

latent potential to improve further may yet be exposed.

Frankel was the joint champion European juvenile colt in 2010 and remained

undefeated during 2011 winning five races, four of which were Group 1 races. His

best rating of 136 was achieved when he defeated champion older miler Canford

Cliffs (127) by no less than five lengths in the Group 1 Sussex Stakes at

Goodwood. But surely his most visually arresting performance was when he

sensationally spread-eagled the field from the start in the Group 1 Two Thousand

Guineas at Newmarket. His rating of 136 marks him out as the joint top-rated

colt, along with crack Irish colt Sea the Stars (2009), since the World

Thoroughbred Rankings (WTR) were instituted in 2004 and one would have to go

back to 1984 and another Irish colt, El Gran Senor (with a rating of 138 in the

former International Classifications), to find a miler of comparable quality on

official ratings.

Black Caviar was world champion older sprinter in 2010 with a rating of 123

and she remained undefeated during 2011 when her rating increased to 132 as a

result of her astonishingly dominant weight-carrying performance in the Group 1

Newmarket Handicap, which she won eased down by three lengths from the cream of

Australia's sprinters who were in receipt of considerable weight allowances. She

won no less than six Group 1 races and two Group 2 races during 2011 and

surpassed So You Think (126) (2010) as the highest rated Australasian horse

since the inauguration of WTR in 2004. One has to go back to the mid- to

late-1980s to find fillies and mares with comparable ratings under the old

International Classifications, namely the French filly Miesque (132) (1987 and

1988) and the British-trained filly Pebbles (132) (1985).

Turning to the older horses in Europe, the champion older horse over 10-12

furlongs was the French trained gelding Cirrus des Aigles (128) who, having been

rated 117 in 2009 and 118 in 2010, improved consistently throughout a typically

busy campaign, and achieved his best performance at the inaugural British

Champions day when winning the Group 1 Champion Stakes at Ascot. Among the

vanquished that day were the former Australian now Irish-trained horse So You

Think (126), who was remarkably consistent throughout 2011 and who achieved the

same rating as he did in Australia in 2010 in winning three Group 1 races, and

the top rated European three-year-old colt Nathaniel (126), whose best

performance was in winning the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

at Ascot.

The German trained Danedream (128) was the standout filly among the

classic generation in Europe with a scintillating success in the Group 1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp which followed on from her earlier Group 1

successes in the Grosser Preis von Berlin and the Grosser Preis von Baden in

Germany. Her rating of 128 ensures her top billing among the classic generation

of fillies (along with the great French filly Zarkava , who also won the Arc)

since the commencement of the WTR.

Rounding out the top 10 in the World Thoroughbred Rankings were the ill-fated

Rewilding (127), who won a pair of Group 1 races in the Dubai Sheema Classic and

Prince of Wales's Stakes; Dream Ahead (126), a three-time Group 1-winning

sprinter in England and France; and the German classic winner Excelebration

(126), who raced in Frankel's shadow three times during the season but gained a

top-level score in the Group 1 Prix du Moulin de Longchamp.

The full list and further information on the World Thoroughbred Rankings are

available on the IFHA web site at

www.ifhaonline.org.