Paul Curtis believes Ballydoyle star is aworthy champion in a below-paryear
THE 2024Longines World’sBest Racehorse Rankings confirm City Of Troy’s status as the best turf horseof lastyear,with the Derby, Eclipseand International winner earning an official mark of 128 and becomingthe firsthorsesince Frankel to be rateda champion at both two and three Ratedjoint-champion overall with wide-margin Dubai World Cupwinner Laurel River– whoseMeydan romp hasperhaps been given morecredit than it deserved–CityOfTroyrates afirstoverall champion for AidanO’Brien since Hawk Wing topped the rankings in 2003. Camelot and, morerecently, St Mark’s Basilicahaveheaded the three-year-old European rankings in the meantime,but aBallydoyle worldchampion hasproved more elusive. While aworthychampion, CityOfTroy’sofficial mark of 128 clearly doesn’t tally with his trainer’s assertion that he’s the best he hasever trained. Indeed,his official ranking, which seeshim rated joint-lowest historicallyfor an overall champion, would still appear to have required some massagingfromthe rankings committee.
Havingbeenon127 after winningthe Juddmonte International, City Of Troy has beengiftedapound to see him joint-top,despite the York showpiece remainingatthe same level overall. To rate City Of Troy 3lb ahead of the length runner-up Calandagan, who washeldupona pacefavouring track, seems rather generous.
Aidan O’Brien’sopinionof City Of Troy is obviously respected, butitisdifficult to rate hisformmuch higher,asa RacingPostRatingof129+ attests.Thereare mitigating factors –handicappers can judgeCityOfTroyonlyonwhat he hasbeaten, and his cause wasnot aidedbythe standard at the top end lastyear being somewhat lacking. This would seemtobeunderlined by the International being ratedthe best race of 2024, despite City Of Troy settinga pre-race standard 4lb belowthe recent average.
Postinga bigfigure requires
CITY OF TROY CLINCHES
JOINT-TOPSPOT–THANKSTOA BITOFCOMMITTEE MASSAGING
plenty of stars to align,and with chuck-outruns on his first and laststarts lastterm, City Of Troy didn’t get many chances to putitall together.The feelingremains we never gotto see what City Of Troy might have beencapable of,but he stillshowed enough to rate the clear top performer of lastyear on RacingPostRatings Hawk Wing’s 134 from his 2003 Lockinge romp remains the highestRPR from a Ballydoyle horse, butCityOf Troy rates the best from the stable since Australia alsoran to an RPR of 129 in winning the 2014 Juddmonte International. Galileo(2003) and RipVan Winkle (2009) rate O’Brien best three-yearolds with an RPR of 132. Laurel River (right) owes his positionasjointchampion to a slightlypositive assessmentofa standout performan in theDubaiWorldCup Such dirt performances are hard to gauge,and thelightly racedLaurelRiver wasn’t seen again. However, the fact only one of the past ten winners could at leastmatch their World Cup-winningRPR in subsequentstarts suggests it’s not one to be toostrongon.
FordirthonoursRacing Post
Ratings favouredthe more solid claims of Breeders’ Cup Classic winner Sierra Leone, who looks hard done by in being rated3lb inferior to the Dubai World Cupwinner by the rankings committee. With regular updates through theyear,surprises are few and far between in the 2024 WBRR,anexception being the eyebrow-raising127 awardedtoVia Sistina,who completeda Group1 hat-trick in the ChampionsStakes at Flemington in November following hermoveto Australia
This mare showed formfor orge ougheyin 2023, ending the year officially rated117 after chasing ome King Steelinthe mpion Stakes.She’s clearly improved since,but given the successofEuropean imports down under the 10lb hike looks astretch. Onemight wonder if her loftyfigurehad anythingtodo with City Of Troy’s figure being nudged upwards, buteither way, with the mares’
allowance factored in, she’d be the official pickinamythical match-up betweenlastyear’s world leaders.Not for our money.
SurpriseKingGeorgeVIand QueenElizabeth Stakes winner Goliath rantothe highest figure over amileand ahalf lastyear,returning an RPRof 127, 1lb ahead of his official mark.Although belowthat levelinthe JapanCup in late November,the Ascot formhas proved strongwith Bluestockinggoingontoland the Arcand Rebel’s Romance theBreeders’Cup Turf.
THE King George wasunusually strongly runand it remains to be seen howimportant such atestistoGoliath,but he wasinnoway flattered by the result,which wasbackedupby agood Topspeed figure.
No match for Goliath at Ascot,nor City of Troy at York, Bluestockingtookher levelup anotchinthe autumn with her Group1 Longchampdouble in the Prix Vermeille and Arc. Her Arc-winningRPR of 123 is in line with her official mark of 122 and she deservedly rates theleadingfilly or mare in Europe lastyear
Like fellow four-year-old Bluestocking, Charyn was regularly held at the top level
at three andwouldn’t have beenanobvious candidate for divisional honoursatthe start of 2024. Thepair rewarded connections’patiencein spades though,withsix Group 1s between them, Charyn’s decisivedefeatofFacteur Chevalinthe QueenElizabeth II Stakes ratingthe best performance over amile last year with an RPR of 127.
While awardeda more modest 124 in the world rankings,that’sstill enough to see himcrowned champion miler ahead of Audience (122) and three-year-old trio Notable Speech(122), Rosallion (122) and HenryLongfellow (120)
As RPRs of 124,124 and 123 for the Classic colts underlines, therewas little to choose betweenthem at their best, although the now-retired HenryLongfellowfailedby some waytorepeat the level of formthat sawhim run Rosallion closeinthe St James’s Palace Stakes in subsequentstarts
Havingbeenabsentsince that RoyalAscot successRosallion hasunfinishedbusinessand could be the one to takehis form up anotch this year Kyprios returnedtothe top of the staying division with an unbeaten campaign, completinga Group1 fivetimer with successinthe Long
Distance CupinOctober. Whilenot quite matching his imperious 2022 form, Kyprios wasthe standout stayer of last year and would likelyhave ratedhigherstill than his official mark of 122 hadhe facedstifferopposition. ReturningRPRs of 120+ in all fiveGroup wins,Kyprios wasa true champion.
Things were alot less clearcut among the sprinters, both internationallyand domestically. That mightnot be the case for longthough,with Hong Kong superstar Ka Ying Risinglookingbetterthanever when smashinghis owntrack recordatSha TinonSunday. As far as 2024 wasconcerned, he hasbeenrated on apar with Cogburn andI Wish IWin, the joint-lowest marksawarded to champions in that division in thehistoryofthe rankings There’snoarguing with Bradsell being ratedthe pickof the home team on 118, but things were alot tighterover six furlongs with Inisherin, Mill Stream and Kind Of Blue scrappingitout in alessthan stellar division. At least Kind Of Blue’s figureswereheading in the rightdirection and he gotthe nodonRPRs with a mark of 121 for his wininthe Champions Sprint. Unraced beforelastseason, he hasthe profile to rate higherthis year
Afar from vintageyearwithcontinuing declineinnumbers acause forconcern
EXACTLYaswas the case the last time therewas a tie at the top of the Longines World’sBestRacehorse Rankings,thereisan overridingfeeling of this not havingbeena vintage 12 months at the cuttingedgeof the sport.
In 2019 therewas athreewaysplit betweenCrystal Ocean, Enable and Waldgeist, who all finishedwithan official ratingof128. This is exactly the same mark allotted to 2024’s joint-champions City Of Troy andLaurelRiver
All fivehorses have been at the topoftheir class, magnificentperformerswhose grand achievements cannot be taken away from them,but theywould finish some lengths behind generational talents such as Frankel or Flightline, who both hit 140, in afictional battle of the ages
Theirs is actually the joint-
THE European Two-Year-Old Classifications presenta tale of contrasts,with astronglist of fillies buta somewhat moderatechampionamong the colts.
Charlie Appleby’s Shadow Of Lightsitsatthe top of the pile, havingbeenawarded arating of 120 for his narrow victory over Expanded (118) in the DewhurstStakes.That is the joint-lowest mark for atwoyear-old champion since Belardo ten years agoand it wouldn’t puthim in thetop 30 juveniles this century.Racing Post Ratings alsoput him top, albeit with an even more modestmarkof117.
Just 1lb belowhim on both lists is champion two-year-old filly LakeVictoria. Aidan O’Brien’sunbeaten star has beengiven aratingof119, making her one of the best juvenile fillies this century. Only fivehavebeenawarded
lowest leading ratingsince the classifications began in 1977 and sit alongside the score appliedfor 2002 winner Rock Of Gibraltar.
At leastitlooks likeseven of thetop ten arestaying in trainingand therecould be morethanone occasioninthe Gulf when Laurel Riverclashes with Hong Kong’s Romantic Warrior,the leadingmoneyearner in history.Calandagan, Goliath,Fierceness, Sierra Leone and even ViaSistina could crosseachother’s paths somewherealong the line, increasingthe likelihood of pushingratings higher in the comingmonths,while there areother quality performers beneaththem,such as Forever Youngand Ka Ying Rising, who canonly improve, as well as the nextgenerationofthreeyear-olds What is moreconcerningis that the number of horses ratedhigherthan115 has declinedagain.
Therecan be variousfactors responsible for adecreaseto 273 from 292, perhapsbecause of morezealous handicapping or simplya poorcrop, butthe figure hasbeenreducing
acrossadecade (apartfrom duringthe pandemic-affected 2020, when therewas less racingand international competition), from anumber wellover300.
If you have fewer horses, you’ll have fewer good horses and the foal crop in most jurisdictions haslargelybeen in decline, butverynoticeably so in twoofthe main engine rooms,North Americaand Australia
Theissue is difficult to address or realistically change, butit’sone that must continue to be acknowledged.
Very few counties,aside fromJapan and Germany, have shown much willingnessor leadership in preservingthe quality of its breedingindustry in the face of rampant commerciality.
Thereare many great breeders around the world whoserigorousmethods will alwaysmeanthereisthe possibility of another horse rated140 appearing. However, huge booksfor aselectnumber of stallions,polarised markets and dangerous levels of inbreedingare warninglights that flash ever morebrightly.
Lake Victoria awardedelite status among fillieswithClassic prospectslooking rosy
2017, with the second-best–Godolphin’sunbeaten Fillies’ Mile heroine Desert Flower –2lb belowLakeVictoria and even closer to her on RPRs
Thereare 42 two-year-olds on the list, aslight improvementonlastyear’s historically lowtotal of 36. That tallies with the view of RacingPostRatings,evenifwe have taken an even dimmer view of the two-year-olds in recentyears–19are rated110 or higher compared to just 15 lastyear
However, although the stats areheadinginthe right direction, it should be a concern that the listis dominated by Appleby and O’Brien. Thepairhave42per centofthe horses ranked, includingeight of the topten, with JessicaHarrington’s Hotazhell and Joseph O’Brien’sScorthyChamp the only two-year-olds rated116 or higher from outside those yards.
ALAN CROWHURST(GETTY IMAGES)
Lake Victoria (second right): one of thebestjuvenile filliesthiscentury
Kyprios
TOP 100 RACES
Notable Speech (GB)
Rosallion (IRE)
Rousham Park (JPN)
White Birch (GB)
121 Blow The Horn (JPN)
Cogburn (USA)
Dornoch (USA)
Forever Young (JPN)
IRE
C M T Charlie Appleby GB
C M T Richard Hannon GB
H L T Hiroyasu Tanaka JPN
C I T John Joseph Murphy IRE
H L T Tatsuya Yoshioka JPN
H S T Steven Asmussen USA
C M D Danny Gargan USA
C I D Yoshito Yahagi JPN
Giavellotto (IRE) 5 H L T Marco Botti GB
I Wish I Win (NZ) 6 G S T Pr Moody & Kath Coleman AUS
Ka Ying Rising (NZ) 4 G S T David Hayes HK
Los Angeles (IRE) 3 C L T Aidan O’Brien IRE
National Treasure (USA) 4 C M D Bob Baffert USA
Shahryar (JPN) 6 H L T Hideaki Fujiwara JPN
Soul Rush (JPN) 6 H M T Yasutoshi Ikee JPN
120 Al Riffa (FR) 4 C I/L T Joseph O’Brien IRE
Aventure (IRE)
Danon Decile (JPN)
Facteur Cheval (IRE)
Fantastic Moon (GER)
F L T Christophe Ferland FR
C L T Shogo Yasuda JPN
G M T Jerome Reynier FR
C L T Sarah Steinberg GER
Giga Kick (AUS) 5 G S T Clayton Douglas AUS
Henry Longfellow (IRE)
Look de Vega (FR)
Master of The Seas (IRE)
Mr Brightside (NZ)
Mystik Dan (USA)
Pride of Jenni (AUS)
Private Eye (AUS)
Prognosis (JPN)
C M T Aidan O’Brien IRE
C I T Carlos & Yann Lerner FR
T Charlie Appleby GB
T Ben, Will & J. D. Hayes AUS
McPeek USA
I T Ciaron Maher AUS
G S T Joseph Pride AUS
H I T Mitsumasa Nakauchida JPN
Senor Buscador (USA) 6 H M D Todd Fincher USA
Thorpedo Anna (USA)
Tribalist (GB)
(FR)
THREE-YEAR-OLDS+
Iresine (FR)
Jayarebe (FR)
Johannes (USA)
Kingsbarns (USA)
Sixpence (JPN)
Sol Oriens (JPN)
Southport Tycoon (AUS)
Straight (GER)
Straight No Chaser (USA)
C L T Marian Falk Weissmeier GER
H S D Dan Blacker USA
Sweet William (IRE) 5 G E T John & Thady Gosden GB
Urban Chic (JPN)
C E T Ryo Takei JPN
Wilson Tesoro (JPN) 5 H M/I D Hitoshi Kotegawa JPN
116 Adare Manor (USA) 5 M M D Bob Baffert USA
Almaqam (GB) 3 C I T Ed Walker GB
Beauty Joy (AUS) 8 G M T Tony Cruz HK
Catching Freedom (USA) 3 C I D Brad Cox USA
Celestial Legend (AUS)
4 C M T Les Bridge AUS
Chain of Lightning (AUS) 6 M S T P Moody & Kath Coleman AUS
Cylinder (AUS)
Dave The King (SAF)
4 C S T James Cummings AUS
5 G M T Mike de Kock SAF
Dolayli (FR) 5 G M T Francis-Henri Graffard FR
El Kodigo (ARG) 4 C L T Juan Saldivia ARG
Emily Upjohn (GB) 5 M I/L T John & Thady Gosden GB
Friendly Soul (GB)
Galaxy Patch (AUS)
Haatem (IRE)
F I T John & Thady Gosden GB
G M T Pierre Ng HK
C M T Richard Hannon GB
Haya Zark (FR) 5 H M/I T Adrien Fouassier FR
Highland Falls (USA)
Illinois (IRE)
C I D Brad Cox USA
C L/E T Aidan O’Brien IRE
Inisherin (GB) 3 C S T Kevin Ryan GB
Intense For Me (ARG)
Junko (GB)
Khaadem (IRE)
Kind of Blue (GB)
Kinross (GB)
Lugal (JPN)
Mad Cool (IRE)
Matenro Sky (JPN)
Mill Stream (IRE)
North Bridge (JPN)
Nysos (USA)
Opazo (BRZ)
Penalty (GER)
Peptide Nile (JPN)
C L T Nicolas Martin Ferro ARG
G L T André Fabre FR
S T Charles Hills GB
T James Fanshawe GB
M T Ralph Beckett GB
C S T Haruki Sugiyama JPN
H S T Manabu Ikezoe JPN
I T Mikio Matsunaga JPN
S T Jane Chapple-Hyam GB
Renamed horses
Beauty
Helios
Invincible
Italicised horses
Horses
Australia as Tex Mex
in Australia as Thron
Lake Victoria: leading juvenile filly
Shadow Of Light: highest rated 2yo in Europe
GRADE 1 WINNERS JAPAN
GRADE 1 WINNERS USA
GRADE 1 WINNERS CANADA
Via Sistina: top-rated filly/mare landing the Cox Plate, one of five Group 1 wins in 2024
