World's Best Racehorse Rankings
The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are a horseracing ranking.
According to the IFHA website, "The IFHA World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings are the official assessment of the top performers." In 1977, France, Great Britain and Ireland published the first internationally agreed assessment of racing merit on behalf of the European Pattern Committee under the banner of the International Classifications. In 1985, Germany and Italy joined the system, to be followed by North America (both Canada and the United States) and Japan in the mid 1990s.
The highest-rated horse is honored as the Longines World's Best Racehorse during the Longines World Racing Awards, which also celebrates the Longines World's Best Horse Race each year.[1]
Related Awards
The ratings for the horses are also critical to establishing two other awards that are given out by the International Federation of Horse Racing Authorities: the aforementioned Longines World's Best Horse Race and the Longines World's Best Jockey. [2]
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. Introduced in 2015, the award was won by the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2021. The Breeders' Cup Classic won in 2016 and 2022, while the Juddmonte International won the title in 2020 and 2024[3]. In 2023, the Japan Cup in association with Longines was named the World's Best Horse Race. The Japan Cup shared the title with the QIPCO Champion Stakes in 2025. Additionally, the IFHA releases the top 100 Group/Grade 1 races each year.
The Longines World's Best Jockey is named each December. Performances in the top 100 Group 1 and Grade 1 races serve as the base of this annual competition to recognize top jockeys throughout the world. Frankie Dettori has won the award four times, as he was named the Longines World's Best Jockey in 2015, 2018, 2019, and 2020. Ryan Moore has also won it four times, as he took the inaugural contest in 2014 as well as the 2016, 2021, and 2023 editions. James McDonald won the title in 2022, 2024, and 2025 while Hugh Bowman won the title in 2017.
Top ranked horses
- Horse names are followed by a suffix indicating the country where foaled.
References
- ^ "International Federation of Horseracing Authorities".
- ^ "International Federation of Horseracing Authorities". www.ifhaonline.org. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ Carr, David (21 January 2025). "Juddmonte International named world's best race again following City Of Troy's York heroics". Racing Post. Retrieved 28 February 2026.
- ^ "The 2003 international classifications" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 March 2021.
- ^ The World Thoroughbred Rankings - 1st February 2011 to 31st July 2011 Archived 10 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 Aug 2011
- ^ "2012 WORLD THOROUGHBRED RANKINGS". Archived from the original on 20 October 2013. Retrieved 15 January 2013.
- ^ "'I think he's still improving' - Francis Graffard eyeing new heights after Calandagan tops Longines World Racing Awards".
External links
- International Federation of Horseracing Authorities [1]