Article Date: 31-May-2012
CAMELOT needs to improve by at least 5lb in Saturday’s Epsom Derby if he is to match the rating achieved by the Kentucky Derby winner I’ll Have Another.
The Aidan O’Brien-trained 2000 Guineas winner has a rating of 121, 5lb below I’ll Have Another, who has since won the Preakness Stakes and goes for the US Triple Crown on Saturday, June 9th when he lines up for the Belmont Stakes.
The unbeaten Frankel retains his position as top racehorse in the world ahead of the outstanding Australian mare Black Caviar (130) in the latest edition of the World Thoroughbred Rankings.
Frankel made a very impressive return to the racetrack as a four year old when he sauntered home from his old rival Excelebration (125) in the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury. In the process, he improved his rating to a career best figure of 138 which also constitutes the highest rating of any horse since the institution of the World Thoroughbred Rankings back in 2004.
Black Caviar, now on a 21-race unbeaten sequence, remains the outstanding mare in the world, but two other Australian distaffers have come back into focus through the autumn campaign with older mare More Joyous (122) annexing three Group 1 races including, most notably, an outstanding win over the males on handicap terms in the Group 1 BMW Doncaster at Randwick.
It was at Randwick also that top three-year-old filly Atlantic Jewel (121) served notice that she is as good as ever after her break from the racetrack in winning the Group 2 Yellowglen Sapphire Stakes over six furlongs.
In Europe, the classic generation is still sorting itself out, but a couple of the older stars of 2011 have indicated on their recent starts that they are as good as ever. The French-trained gelding Cirrus Des Aigles (128) reproduced his very best form in romping home by eight lengths in the Group 1 Prix Ganay at Longchamp while old rival So You Think (125) also had a facile victory in the Group 1 Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh.
Top spot among the older horses in North America is held by the five-year-old gelding Wise Dan (125), who was stunningly impressive on his seasonal debut in the Grade 3 Ben Ali Stakes on the polytrack at Keeneland.
In Asia, the standout performance in recent weeks was put up by the Japanese trained horse Rulership (123),who improved his rating when he turned the Group 1 Audemars Piguet QEII Cup at Sha Tin in Hong Kong into a procession in the straight and in the process joined Japanese Triple Crown winner of 2011, Orfevre (123) at the top of the Japanese rankings.
Click on the attachment below to see the full list of World Thoroughbred Rankings
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