Asian Racing Federation countries hold 49 of the Top 100 Group 1 and Grade 1 Races
Latest LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings frank ARF form
The recent publishing by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities of its annual top 100 Group 1 and Grade 1 races emphasised the strength of racing in Asian Racing Federation (ARF) countries with nearly 50% of those internationally acclaimed races hosted by ARF racing jurisdictions.
The ranked list is compiled using the annual race ratings, an average of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings ratings of the first four placed horses in each of the past three years, and 49 of the Group 1 races are raced in ARF jurisdictions.
ARF countries have 10 of the top 25 races:
ARF countries also have two of the top rated races in the five respective distance categories with the Black Caviar Lightning Stakes (119.58-Sprint) and the Tenno Sho (Spring) (117.67-Extended).
There are 12 countries comprising this year's list, representing the foremost racing events throughout the world across 39 different racecourses, with ARF countries making up six of those 12 countries.
Australia leads all countries with 26 total races, followed by the United States of America (23), Great Britain (16), Japan (10), France (9), Hong Kong (6), United Arab Emirates (5), Canada (1), Germany (1), Ireland (1), Singapore (1), and South Africa (1).
The quality of ARF racing was further emphasised with the latest release of the LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings - the official listing of the world’s best racehorses for 3yos and upwards which raced between 1st January and 8th March 2015.
The John Moore trained Able Friend (AUS) was rated at 124 in second place in the world behind the USA’s Shared Belief (125).
Able Friend gave weight to his opponents in the Stewards’ Cup at Sha Tin in January and then demonstrated his ability again with an emphatic win in the first running of the Queen’s Silver Jubilee Cup as an international Group 1 last Sunday.
“Able Friend coasted to his third consecutive Group 1 victory in imposing style, reinforcing his position as the top active miler in the world, as reflected in the latest edition of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings," said Nigel Gray, Head of Handicapping and Race Planning, Hong Kong Jockey Club.
Able Friend now heads towards Hong Kong’s highest rated race, and the 17th highest rated in the world, the Champions Mile at Sha Tin on May 3rd.
Another horse trained in Hong Kong is joint third on the current list. Designs On Rome (IRE) [123] has won two Pattern Races this year. Designs On Rome travels to Dubai to take on the Dubai Sheema Classic presented by Longines (2410m).
