U.S. Horses Strong in Year-End IFHA Rankings
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Wise Dan's season was topped off with a win in the Breeders' Cup Mile (Photos courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire)
Eleven U.S.-based horses were ranked in the top 50 in the year-end edition of the Longines International Federation of Horseracing Authorities World Thoroughbred Rankings, released on Thursday. Reigning U.S. Horse of the Year Wise Dan earned a spot on the top five for the second year in a row with a rating of 129, tying him with Japanese champion Orfevre.
Orfevre jumped from a rating of 125 to 129 with his spectacular Arima Kinen win on Dec. 22 to end his career. Wise Dan earned his ranking of 129 after a six-win season that only saw him beaten once in 2013. Wise Dan was only topped by co-highweighted females Treve and Black Caviar, who both earned rankings of 130.
Also in the top five were 2013 Japanese Horse of the Year Lord Kanaloa and German superstar Novellist. Animal Kingdom and Mucho Macho Man weren’t far off of Wise Dan. Both earned rankings of 125 to put them in a four-way tie for seventh. Officially racing for Australia in Dubai for his Dubai World Cup win, Animal Kingdom was based in America with trainer Graham Motion throughout his career.
Be sure to check out the Equibase IFHA World Thoroughbred Rankings page, featuring the rankings, age, sex and connections. The Equibase page also includes links to the Equibase bios, the America’s Best Racing bios of American-based or –raced horses, 5-cross pedigrees from Equineline, and detailed race records.
Other U.S.-based horses making an appearance in the top 50 were Clark Handicap winner Will Take Charge, Fort Larned, and Game On Dude, all tied for 11th with a 124. Game On Dude dropped from a ranking of 125 to 124 to tie for 11th after finishing second to Will Take Charge in the Clark Handicap.
Point of Entry (123), Ron the Greek (122), Beholder (121), Indy Point (121), and Obviously (121) all earned top-50 ranking spots due to their performances this year.
Rounding out the top 50, Orb, Za Approval, Princess of Sylmar, and Sahara Sky all tied for 47th with a ranking of 120. Royal Delta and Verrazano fell to 60th after their rankings were changed from 120 to 119 for the year-end list.
Four horses who ran in the Breeders’ Cup World Championships – Olympic Glory (125 rating), 2013 Breeders’ Cup Turf winner Magician (124), Declaration of War (124), and The Fugue (123) – were also among those named to the top 50.
The LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings is horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf Rankings, FIFA World Rankings for soccer and IRB Rugby World Rankings. The LONGINES Rankings are based on the ratings earned by horses running worldwide from North and South America, Europe, Middle East, South Africa, Asia through to Australia and New Zealand. The ratings are compiled under the auspices of The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) by racing officials & handicappers representing the five continents who compile the ranking order by agreeing on the rating for each horse. The ratings are based on the performance of horses in elite races held during the designated period which takes in account the quality of opposition and achievements of each horse. Throughout the year the Longines Rankings are published at regular intervals and the consolidated annual rankings are released in January. The annual rankings denote the champions in the various distance categories for example sprint or mile, surface either turf or dirt/artificial and also the fillies & mares category.