Hosted by presenter Francesca Cumani at the National
Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England, the ceremony awarded the title of
2020 Longines World’s Best Racehorse to Ghaiyyath (IRE), while Authentic
(USA) was second.
Ghaiyyath earned his rating of 130 in
the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1), which is also the 2020 Longines
World’s Best Horse Race. The Irish horse started his season in Dubai, taking the
Dubai Millennium Stakes Sponsored by Jaguar (G3) at Meydan. The then 5-year-old
completed the 2000 metres contest in 2:00:33, setting a new track record in the
process. Following his victory in Dubai, the champion returned to Europe to win
the Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup Stakes (G1) in his next start and defeated
2019 co-Longines World’s Best Racehorse Enable in the Coral-Eclipse (G1).
The second highest rated
horse in the world in 2020, Authentic, earned
his rating in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), where he set a track
record by completing the 1 ¼-mile race in 1:59.60. Authentic’s rating makes him
the highest rated dirt horse in the world for 2020 as well as the highest rated
3-year-old. The American horse was also the first one since 2015 Longines
World’s Best Racehorse American Pharoah to win the Kentucky Derby and Classic
in the same year.
The Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings are established by
international handicappers according to the performance of the horses in top
races. In the previous edition, Crystal Ocean (GB), Enable (GB) and Waldgeist (FR)
were celebrated as the joint winners of the 2019 Longines World’s Best
Racehorse title.
The 2020 Longines World
Racing Awards also celebrated Frankie
Dettori as the Longines World’s Best Jockey of the year. Dettori is the
only four-time winner of the title, which was established in 2014, and he has
now won it three consecutive times. The awarding of the Longines World’s Best
Jockey title is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and
Grade 1 races as established for the year by the Longines World’s Best
Racehorse Rankings Committee.
Additionally, Longines and
the IFHA were delighted to celebrate the Juddmonte
International Stakes (G1), held at York Racecourse in England, as the 2020
Longines World’s Best Horse Race with a rating of 125.25. The Longines World’s
Best Horse Race Award recognizes the best-rated race of the highest-rated Group
1 international races as established by a panel of international handicappers.
The ratings of the top four finishers in each race serve as basis for the assessment.
This is the first time an English race has won the title. France’s Qatar Prix
de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) won the award in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, while America’s
Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) won in 2016.
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