Taylor Vinters - Solicitors

Published by Louise Border

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has named Frankel as the top racehorse for 2011 in its annual World Thoroughbred Rankings.

Having completed 12 months without losing a single race, Frankel has been a sensation during the last year and recorded five race wins in total, four of which came in group one events, while one was achieved in a group two race.

A highlight for race fans could well have been Frankel's arresting performance in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, where he "spread-eagled the field" from the start and was able to win by more than five lengths over some of the best horses in the world, the BHA revealed.

"His rating of 136 marks him out as the joint top rated colt, along with crack Irish colt SEA THE STARS (IRE) (2009), since the World Thoroughbred Rankings were instituted in 2004," the organisation noted.

In second place in 2011 was a horse which deserves an honourable mention alongside the year's champion, with Australia's Black Caviar also completing an unbeaten 12 months of racing and finishing the year just slightly behind Frankel on 132 points.

The BHA noted in regard to Black Caviar that "one has to go back to the mid/late 1980s to find fillies/mares with comparable ratings under the old International Classifications, namely the French filly MIESQUE [132] (1987 and 1988) and the British trained filly PEBBLES [132] (1985)".

Four horses lie in joint third and joint fifth on 128 and 127 points respectively - France's Cirrus des Aigles and Germany's Danedream, while the British-trained pair of Canford Cliffs and Rewilding are just slightly behind.

Rounding out the top ten in the 2011 World Thoroughbred Rankings were four horses who all achieved a score for the year of 126: Dream Ahead, Excelebration and Nathaniel that were all trained in Great Britain, while Ireland's So You Think completed the standings.

Please contact Rachel Flynn, Head of Horseracing and Equine for further information or call 01223 225168