THE IFHA’S LONGINES WORLD’S BEST RACEHORSE RANKINGS

Racehorse enthusiasts think like most enthusiasts from other sports. We also like to debate who may be the greatest in our favourite sport. At the end of the day it is just a bit of fun, and as Marlon Brando once said when interviewed about being the greatest actor of all-time “I don’t like to think that way. Everybody has their own value in a different way, and I don’t like to think who was the best.” Wise words from one of the greatest to ever do it, but let’s consider what the latest IFHA Longines World’s Best Racehorse rankings tell us so far.

 

The IFHA’s World Best Racehorse Rankings from Longines are a known guide as to who “may” be the greatest thoroughbred each year and the latest rankings have the French trained Calandagan at the top with a rating of 130. These ratings typically start around 100 and exceptional horses can reach a mark of 130+ with recent greats such as Flightline achieving a rating of 140. Calandagan himself has since won his fourth consecutive Group 1 race when securing the Japan Cup by a head under a vigorous ride from the Japanese trained Masquerade Ball. With the Final 2025 Rankings and awards from Longines due to be presented in January it is fair to assume that the Francis-Henri Graffard trained four-year-old will likely receive an even higher ranking and possibly remain the highest rated racehorse. An excellent end to a very successful season for the son of Gleneagles, and even better news that he will race on as a five-year-old in 2026. The table below shows the Longines rankings for horses that have ran from the 1st January 2025 to the 9th November 2025.

 

RANKING	RATING	SURFACE	HORSE	SEX
1	130	Turf	Calandagan (IRE)	G
2	128	Turf	Ombudsman (IRE)	C
3	127	Turf	Daryz (FR)	C
3	127	Turf	Field Of Gold (IRE)	C
3	127	Dirt	Forever Young (JPN)	C
3	127	Dirt	Sovereignty (USA)	C
7	126	Turf	Delacroix (IRE)	C
7	126	Turf	Ka Ying Rising (NZ)	G
7	126	Turf	Romantic Warrior (IRE)	G

 

No doubt this table will see some change in the Final Rankings as horses such as Ombudsman, Field Of Gold and Delacroix ended their season on a low point whereas a horse like Ka Ying Rising has been sweeping all before him with his victory in Australia’s top sprint The Everest, and his latest win on Sunday in the Longines Group 1 Hong Kong Sprint equalling Golden Sixty’s record of 16 consecutive wins. He is now just one win away from equalling the Hong Kong record of 17 consecutive wins held by Silent Witness.

 

How these IFHA Longines rankings are compiled is anybody’s guess but both students of the clock and punters who use their eyes as their only guide will surely be of the same opinion that the Hong Kong champion should be rated at least the best turf horse in the world right now. Sunday’s latest victory was no doubt the horse’s greatest display yet visually as he made all the running and only needed a hands and heels ride from Zac Purton to come home an eased down three and three quarter lengths clear of his nearest rival.

 

 

I awarded the Hong Kong champion a (120) timefigure for his romp over six furlongs at Sha Tin on Sunday which is his best so far. As we know from previous articles our timefigure for the typical Group 1 winner is (117). The winning time of 1.07.70 may appear slower than his previous course best of 1.07.20 which he put up on the 19th January 2025 when winning the Group 1 Centenary Sprint Cup, but it is worth noting that conditions on Sunday were much slower and a (119) timefigure was awarded for his three and a quarter length defeat of Helios Express back in January.

 

A draw in stall one probably helped the horse save energy early on, as he has been drawn wide for plenty of his previous Group1 wins, but it was the manner of the victory combined with the timefigure that has all timing enthusiasts wondering where the ceiling lies for this superstar? Trainer David Hayes has predicted that he will more than likely break his own track record soon and there should be no doubt that a fully stretched Ka Ying Rising should be more than capable of reaching timefigures close to (125).

 

Let’s put that into context with what Calandagan has achieved this season. The Longines world best racehorse had recorded multiple timefigures of (116) prior to his Japan Cup victory with his latest head victory yielding a (118) timefigure on my clock. It should also be noted for those who think it is easier to record a faster timefigure in sprints than middle distance races that the timefigures take this into account and are calculated using lengths per mile. Just on timefigures alone it is clear that Ka Ying Rising is the best turf racehorse in the world right now.

 

BEST RACEHORSE IN THE WORLD?

To say Kay Ying Rising is the best racehorse in the world we need to appreciate that horses like Forever Young and Romantic Warrior have also been putting up timefigures in the 120’s throughout their careers. The 2024 Breeder’s Cup Classic was run in a ferocious pace with the winner Sierra Leone recording a (129) timefigure, and Forever Young himself recorded a (123) timefigure when taking the 2025 contest. However, when trying to rank the best racehorse in the world we are looking more for consistency at the highest level than one or two big performances. As such, the Hong Kong Champion has yet to taste defeat in his last sixteen races, spanning almost two years, compared to Forever Young who has been beaten three times in the past two years. With this in mind, I would say there is a very strong case for Ka Ying Rising to be rated the IFHA’s Longines World’s Best Racehorse of 2025 when the final rankings are compiled in January.