2019 is drawing to a close, as we move further into the national hunt season. This means much anticipation is building ahead of April and the national and there are already many Grand National offers available. Can Tiger Roll win it for a third year in succession?
The flat season again provided some stunning action, with a number of suprise performances. This included Waldgiest’s victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which also now sees the horse sitting as the joint highest in the world with a rating of 128 from Longines. Crystal Ocean and Enable join the horse at the top with a rating of 128.
Waldgeist pulls off the shock, pipping Enable to the win in the last 50 metres!
– ITV Racing (@itvracing) October 6, 2019
It was tight finish to the Qatar Prix De L’Arc De Triomphe
Watch LIVE on @ITV pic.twitter.com/2Xb87mbYr3
The first horse to make the list from outside of Europe is the Honk Kong based horse Beauty Generation. He has been beaten in his last three starts but prior to this had won 10 races in succession, including an impressive three lengths victory in the Group One Honk Kong Mile at Sha Tin. He has a rating of 127, so just misses out on the top spot.
Next in the list are two horses who were awarded a rating of 126, so sit as the joint fifth best in the rankings. The first of these is the UK based and Godolphin trained, Ghaiyyath. This rating was purely based on his stunning 14 lengths victory in the Group One Grosser Preis von Baden. Following this he was well beaten in the Arc, behind the previously mentioned Waldgeist.
Joining Ghaiyyath is the first US based horse to make the list in Vino Rosso. The four year old is trained by Todd Pletcher and is coming off the back of a hugely impressive victory in the 2019 edition of the Breeders’ Cup classic. This saw him win by just over four lengths from McKinzie and big things will now be expected of the horse moving forward.
The final four horses in the top ten all finished with a rating of 125. The first of these is the Charlie Hills trained sprinter, Battaash. The rating came following his remarkable victory in the Nunthorpe at York, when breaking the long standing track record. He was then well beaten in his following start but will be expected to pick up many more Grade One’s moving forward. Another UK based horse called Benbatl also finished with a rating of 125.
The second and only other US based horse to make the top ten was City of Light. He has now been retired but landed the 2018 running of the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile and 2019 Pegasus World Cup in his final two starts. The final horse in the list is Winx. Also now retired, she won her final 33 starts and established herself into one of the all-time legends of the sport. Now she is retired her owners will be looking for a horse retirement community where she can enjoy an easy life and her owners can relive past glories knowing that she ended her career on top.
