City of Troy dead-heating with Laurel River in the 12th Longines World’s Best Racehorse awards
Yes, it’s a dead-heat for the 12th Longines World’s Best Racehorse awards with Laurel River, the Dubai World Cup hero, dead-heating with City of Troy in the hands of Ryan Moore.
With both horses being rated 128, the first since 2019, it was Laurel River who has held that same rating since scoring an 8½ length victory in the Emirates Airlines Dubai World Cup in March.
In that being Laurel River’s third win in 2024, it was a far different season start for City of Troy in finishing a dismal ninth first-up in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, when the odds-on favorite.
City of Troy entered the Longines Rankings on 123 in scoring a 2¾ length win over Ambient Friendly in the Betfred Derby of 1½ miles, when having the race won when rounding Tattenham Corner.
However, it was his length victory in the Juddmonte International at York that’s been rated his best career performance, and jumping to 128 the International itself had a 124.25 Top 100 Group 1 rating.
Running a record of 2:4.32s for the 1m2½f race distance, this was the second occasion that the Juddmonte International Stakes has received a top Top 100 Group 1 rating, with Ghaiyyath in 2020.
With Laurel River being the Longines Best Immediate Dirt champion and City of Troy the Best Intermediate Turf performer, he is the equal-second Long Turf horse on 123, with Goliath first on 126.
As Laurel River is home-bred Juddmonte Farm, and by five times US Champion Sire Into Mischief, he’s from the family of Emollient and originally trained by Bob Baffert won the Pat O’Brien Stakes.
Both Laurel River and City of Troy are American bred, with City of Troy bred by Coolmore by highly successful Justify, the family of sire Lord Shankill from the Group 1 Galileo mare Together Forever.
In honouring the 2024 Longines World Racing Awards, IFAR Chair Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges stated “The IFHA is dedicated to advancing and improving our sport globally in a wide range of areas.”
“We also believe it is important to take time to reward and celebrate the best of what racing has to offer, and the Longines World Racing Awards allow us to do that in a meaningful way, and on behalf of the entire IFHA, I want to congratulate our very deserving winners.”
As the Longines World’s Best Horse Race Award recognises the highest-rated Group/Grade 1 International Races it was William Derby, York’s Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course who received a Longines timepiece and a proud horse head trophy on behalf of York Racecourse.
Sitting third overall on 127 in the Longines World Ratings is the Chris Waller trained Via Sistina, being the Longines World’s Best Filly & Mare having defeated Prognosis by 8 lengths of the WS Cox Plate.
In winning five Group 1 events for the year, her victory in the Winx Stakes at Royal Randwick lifted that event to 9th on the World’s Top 100 Group 1 listings, with Randwick’s Queen Elizabeth Stake third.
Normally the domain of the Aussies, last year the Longines World Best Sprinter was a triple dead-heat with all three being Turf Sprinters, with Randwick’s TJ Smith Stakes winner I Wish I Win a top 121.
Also on 121 is the Steve Asmussen trained world record holder Cogburn who will shuttle to Widden Stud in Australia, and the Longines Hong Kong Sprint champion Ka Ying Rising, trained by David Hayes.
German bred Goliath was fourth on 126 in winning the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, while co-fifth on 125 is Japan Cup winner Do Deuce, Fierceness, Romantic Warrior and Sierra Leone.
As the Longines World’s Best Horse Race was celebrating for the 10th time, it was Bernardo Tribolet, Longines Vice President Marketing stating ‘Longines wanting to strengthen support for horseracing.’
“As a longstanding partner of the IFHA community, we’ll like to continue to share with our partners a deep passion for common values of tradition, performance and elegance.”
