The British Horseracing Authority has rated Cracksman (GB) (Frankel {GB}) as Europe's best racehorse off his seven-length victory in Saturday's G1 Qipco Champion S. The 3-year-old was given a mark of 130, two pounds more than the rating earned by his stablemate Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), whose five Group 1 wins this year include the G1 Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
“With due respect to his stable companion Enable, and notwithstanding the decisions of the World's Best Racehorse Ranking Committee, which will meet in Hong Kong in December, it is my belief that Cracksman put up the best performance we have seen in Europe this year,” said BHA Handicapper Dominic Gardiner-Hill. “Visually his seven-length success was extremely impressive. The fact that he ran the fastest final furlong of the afternoon confirms the merit of the performance and I have raised his mark 8lb from 122 to 130.”
“For those that believe this to be a slight on Enable, I believe it is worth pointing out that these figures are a measure of performance rather than a measure of the inherent ability of the horse,” Gardiner-Hill added. “The truth is that nobody knows how good Enable is; she just keeps winning. By the same token we don't know the limits of Cracksman's ability at the present time. It is my opinion that the latter's performance on Saturday was better than her efforts in winning both the King George and the Arc. Do bear in mind, though, that she received the 3lb allowance for fillies in both those races as she would if taking on Cracksman. At present it looks as though both will stay in training next year and that should provide the exciting opportunity for us to find out more about both.”
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