It may have been Saudi Cup weekend but the most significant movers at the top end of Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings came elsewhere as Golden Sixty and Anamoe have moved up #3 and #4 respectively.
Having leapfrogged star stayer Kyprios, the pair can now claim to be the world’s leading active racehorses as the only above them in the rankings, Flightline and Baaeed, have already been retired.
They will both soon drop out, as per regular TRC practice, when a period of 150 days have ensued since their most recent outing.
Golden Sixty (+53pt, #3 from #4) climbs back towards the top spot after coming out on top in his rematch with world #7 Romantic Warrior in the Citi Hong Kong Gold Cup at Sha Tin on Sunday [Feb 26].
This was an enthralling edition of the G1 contest, regarded as the second leg of Hong Kong’s Triple Crown. Stepping up to 2,000 metres (1m2f), Golden Sixty had been beaten in the same event 12 months previously but the seven-year-old made no mistake this time, jockey Vincent Ho keeping tabs on Romantic Warrior throughout before reeling him in to score by a head; the runner-up had never before been beaten over course and distance.
In Australia, Anamoe (+63pt, #4 from #5) continued on his merry ways with the eighth G1 success of his career in the Chipping Norton Stakes at Randwick, where he scored in dominant fashion under world #1 jockey James McDonald.
Godolphin’s superstar colt is now set for the Ranvet and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at home in Sydney before a crack at Royal Ascot.
The Saudi Cup card produced some eyecatching performances, with Japan again the most successful nation with three winners to snare the lion’s share of a total $35.5m prize pot over two days’ racing in Riyadh.
Japanese-trained horses filled positions 1-3-4-5-7 in the world’s richest race, the $20m Saudi Cup, in which Panthalassa (+188pt, #23 from #80) galloped his rivals into the sand with a powerful front-running effort for renowned globe-trotting trainer Yoshito Yahagi (+66pt, #13 from #14 on trainers’ list) and his array of brightly coloured headwear.
Drawn one on the rail, the six-year-old was able to hold the late surge of Dubai World Cup winner Country Grammer (+10pt, #25 from #26) by three-quarters of a length to claim the $20m event. Having dead-heated with Lord North in last year’s Dubai Turf, Panthalassa has now won lucrative prizes on both turf and dirt in the Middle East; a return to Meydan is now on the cards.
Yahagi was also to the fore elsewhere on the card, where Bathrat Leon (+169pt, #179 from #494) made all in the 1351 Turf Sprint; he’ll likely be back in Dubai to defend his crown in the Godolphin Mile.
On the same card, Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Elite Power (+128pt, #8 from #20) overwhelmed a G1-class field under Frankie Dettori in the G3 Riyadh Dirt Sprint and breaks into the Top Ten after completing a six-timer.
Mostahdaf (+258pt, #28 from #152) also looked top class with a seven-length romp in the G3 Neom Turf Cup.
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View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires