Japanese superstar Equinox confirmed his status as the world’s number one racehorse with a consummate performance to complete back-to-back victories in the Tenno Sho (Autumn) at Tokyo racecourse on Sunday [Oct 29] – breaking the track record in the process.
The four-year-old’s success in the ¥475m ($3.6m/£3m) contest was a masterpiece in its simplicity as he sat in third place a few lengths behind a strong pace before smoothly taking command in the straight.
Equinox hit the front about 300 yards out and pulled away to record his fifth G1 triumph in a row by a comfortable 2½ lengths from late-running Justin Palace in a ruthlessly efficient display.
In truth, the winner never really broke sweat and was barely pushed out – yet he broke the track record by 0.9s, stopping the clock at 1:55.2s for the 2,000-metre (1m2f) trip on his return after a four-month layoff following his victory in the Tarakazuka Kinen in June.
“Equinox has it all and is the best horse in the world,” commented jockey Christophe Lemaire. “I was confident beforehand knowing what he's capable of and it was nice to go out there and show it. He quickens well at the end and has stamina. He really is the perfect horse.”
Set to run next in the Japan Cup, Equinox stays at #1 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings, earning a 210pt boost to bolster his current portfolio to 2245pt and extending his advantage over the now-retired Ace Impact (2004pt). World #3 Mostahdaf is due to run at the Breeders’ Cup.
Trained by Tetsuya Kimura, Equinox has topped the TRC charts for 32 weeks since winning the Dubai Sheema Classic. He is the 23rd individual horse to top the rankings since we started compiling racehorse rankings in 2014.
Lemaire added: “I am relieved to have been able to show the world that he deserves to be named the highest-rated horse.
“He’s not exactly what you call a horse with incredible speed but he was able to keep up with today’s rapid pace and get into another gear at the end – but I was actually surprised when I realised that we had won in a record.”
Elsewhere, the major skirmishes of the Aussie spring continue to come thick and fast. Romantic Warrior (#13 from #23, +61pt) landed a major blow for Hong Kong with a thrilling last-gasp success in the WS Cox Plate, Australia’s most prestigious weight-for-age race, at Moonee Valley on Saturday [Oct 28].
However, the principal rankings mover down under was the Kiwi sprint queen Imperatriz (#4 from #12, +102pt), who landed her seventh G1 success in the Manikato Stakes to crash into the world’s top five.
Trained by Mark Walker (#28 from #34, +43pt) for the powerful Te Akau Racing (#7 from #8, +57pt) syndicate, Imperatriz justified odds-on favouritism under Opie Bosson by an emphatic 3¼ lengths. Next up is the A$3m ($1.9m/£1.57m) Champions Sprint at Flemington on November 11.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
• Visit the Japan Racing Association website
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