Hong Kong’s final Champion Awards were celebrated at the close of the 2017/18 season and Winx won the Most Admired Overseas Horse title for the second year in a row with over 60% of the vote.
The other Hong Kong Champion Awards went to Zac Purton as Champion Jockey, Derek Leung was accorded his second consecutive Tony Cruz Award as the leading home grown rider with 37 wins this term, just holding off apprentice Matthew Poon, who rode 35 winners.
John Size was awarded his 10th Champion Trainer title in 18 seasons, having won 87 races this campaign.
The week before Sunday’s announcement Winx led release of the fifth edition of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2018 with her rating of 130.
The mare is back in Waller’s Rosehill stables in Sydney being prepared for her 2018 Australian spring campaign with her first race the recently renamed and regraded A$500,000, Group 1 Winx Stakes (1400m) at Randwick on August 18th. The race was previously run as the Warwick Stakes.
The latest Racehorse Rankings reflected the northern hemisphere flat season in full swing. After his Royal Ascot victory Poet’s Word (IRE) at 125 joined Cracksman (GB) as the co-third highest rated horse.
Poet’s Word bested Cracksman by 2 ¼ lengths in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes (G1). He came into the race off of a victory in the Matchbook Brigadier Gerard Stakes (G3) and also finished second to Hawkbill (USA) [121] in the Longines Dubai Sheema Classic (G1) earlier this year.
Other Royal Ascot winners finding themselves ranked include Alpha Centauri (IRE) [122] and Blue Point (IRE) [120]. Alpha Centauri, the highest rated 3-year-old filly in the world, won the Coronation Stakes (G1) by six lengths. In her previous start, she won the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas (G1). Blue Point, meanwhile, took the King’s Stand Stakes (G1) by 1 ¾ lengths over Battaash.
In the Asian Racing Federation area Mikki Rocket (JPN) [120] proved game as he defeated former Hong Kong Horse of the Year Werther (NZ) by a neck in the Takarazuka Kinen (G1) in Japan.
The fifth edition of the LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings for 2018
