The Longines World Best Racehorse ranking for 2022 are out, and again it’s Nature Strip who’s the World’s Champion Sprinter on 126, having also been World Champ last year on 124.
Highly impressed with the Australian’s outstanding victory at Royal Ascot to win the King’s Stand Stakes, the WBR Committee were also highly impressed with his TJ Smith Stakes win at home.
With his regular jockey James McDonald being crowned Longines Word’s Best Jockey for 2022 in having amassed 142 points for his 9 winning rides in the WBR ranked top-100 Group 1 races.
In James McDonald also winning 14 Group 1 races this year in Australia and Hong Kong, it’s 12 times Sydney champion trainer Chris Waller who has made Nature Strip the champion he is today.
However, it’s Flightline in an historic year being named the 2022 Longines World’s Best Racehorse with his 140 rating equal to Frankel’s benchmark rating in 2012 under the current system.
In scoring a 19¼ length victory in the Pacific Classic Stakes over Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer, it was previously Cigar in 1996 who was rated 135 as the highest dirt rated horse.
Retiring to Taylor Made Farm undefeated, and also winning the Metropolitan Handicap, it was his 8¼ length victory in the Breeder’s Cup Classic that was the 2022 Longines World’s Best Race.
With this Breeders’ Cup Classic being determined by averaging the rankings of the first four horses it was Olympiad on 124 as second, followed by Taiba 123, Rich Strike 120 and Life Is Good 125.
Second to Flightline as the World’s Best Racehorse, Baaeed received an historical 135 to be the highest rated turf horse since Frankel with 140 in 2021, and one below is own sire Sea The Stars.
In receiving a 135 rating for victory in the Juddmonte International Stakes where he defeated Mishriff 120 by 6½ lengths, he also won the Sussex Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes and Lockinge Stakes.
Also rated third with Nature Strip on 126 is the world top rated 3yo Equinox in winning the Arima Kinen, the Grand Prix, by 2½ lengths against older horses, and the Tenno Sho Autumn.
Three horses are jointly rated in the co-fifth position on 125 with Epicentre having won the Travers Stakes, Life Is Good the Whitney Stakes and Vadeni over older horse in the Eclipse Stakes.
With Vadeni going on to finish second to Alpinista in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, eight horses were rated 124 in eight position with Golden Sixty winning the 2022 Champion Mile in Honk Kong.
In addition, Kyprios, Olympiad, Pyledriver, Real World, Romantic Warrior, Titleholder and Torquator Tasso were all rated 124, it’s 288 horses from 16 countries that were rated 115 or higher.
Also from Australia, it’s the 3yo Anamoe on 122 in the Intermediate Turf, Home Affairs is 120 in the Sprint Turf, the Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner Think It Over also 120, along with Zaaki.
In 2022 the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic was honoured as the highest rated race in the world, the second time the race has won the award, following the 2016 edition won by Arrogate.
Achieved a rating of 126.75 after Flightline, Olympiad, Taiba and Rich Strike were the first four across the finish line, it was Baaeed in winning the Champion Stakes at Ascot who achieved 124.75.
The Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was rated 124.25, the Lockinge Stakes 123.75, Sussex Stakes 123.50, Pacific Classic Stakes 123.25, Irish Champion Stakes 122.50 and Queen Anne Stakes 122.50.
The top rated races in distance categories are the Black Caviar Lightning for 119.50-Sprint, Lockinge Stakes 123.75-Mile, Breeders’ Cup Classic 126.75-Interm., Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe 124.25-Long, Goodwood Cup 119.75-Extended and for females the Breeders’ Cup Distaff 117.00.
Twelve countries comprise the 2022 listing from 40 different racecourses world- wide, with Australia having a total of 20 races, Great Britain and the United States each with 18, Japan 12, both France and Hong Kong with 10, South Africa 5, and Ireland and United Arab Emirates 4.
