Treve wins the Arc
While we applaud the idea of international rankings and we all appreciate Longine’s beautifully targeted sponsorship at the top of the game, I think a little clarification about what we’re actually looking at could be in order, writes Bill Oppenheim on Thoroughbreddailynews.com.
To say Just A Way is the World’s Best Racehorse and his contemporary Epiphaneia is the world’s second-best racehorse makes an assumption which could be debated.
Just A Way’s 130 rating in the Gr1 Dubai Duty Free may have been the world’s single best performance of 2014, and Epiphaneia’s 129 for his four-length win in the Gr1 Japan Cup may have been the second-best performance, but best performances do not necessarily equate to best racehorses.
Historically North America and Europe have been the true major leagues in horseracing.
Look, I would be as strong an advocate as anyone of the rise of international racing.
Australian racing, Japanese racing, Dubai, Hong Kong – it’s all good, in fact it’s great.
But let’s not let our enthusiasm run away with us.
Australia (the best 3yo?) wins the Investec Derby
I know it’s a two-mile race, but please note, in the last two runnings of the Gr1 Melbourne Cup, nine of the top ten finishers were bred in Europe.
Sorry, but Treve was the best horse in the world last year, and Australia and Kingman, in either order, were the best 3-year-olds, along with California Chrome, Bayern, and Shared Belief; and, by the way, Toast of New York, Tonalist, and Wicked Strong didn’t even hit the board at the Eclipse Awards.
All those American-raced 3-year-olds of 2014 stay in training this year, by the way, which is fantastic, along with Treve, the Niarchos Breeders’ cup duo of Main Sequence and Karakontie, and Palace Malice.
Should be some really good racing this year!
