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Knicks Go Named Longines World’s Best Racehorse Of 2021

Co-organized by Swiss watch brand Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), the ninth edition of the Longines World Racing Awards honoured the top Thoroughbred racehorses, horse race, and jockey of the previous year.

From the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England, presenter Francesca Cumani revealed that the title of 2021 Longines World's Best Racehorse belonged to Knicks Go, while the 2021 Longines World's Best Horse Race was the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) in France. During the ceremony, Ryan Moore was also celebrated as the 2021 Longines World's Best Jockey.

Knicks Go finished 2021 on a rating of 129, which was the highest in the world. He earned that rating in the Longines Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) in his final start of the year. Knicks Go began his season by taking the Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes (G1) last January, and he added additional victories in the Whitney Stakes (G1), Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap (G3), and Lukas Classic Stakes (G3) before his dominant win at the Breeders' Cup World Championships.

There was a three-way tie for second between Europe's Adayar (IRE), Mishriff (IRE), and St Mark's Basilica (FR), who all finished 2021 on a rating of 127. Adayar earned his rating in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes (G1); Mishriff achieved that mark with his victory in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1); and St Mark's Basilica received his rating from having won the Coral-Eclipse (G1).

The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings are established by international handicappers according to the performance of the horses in top races. In the previous edition, Ghaiyyath (IRE) was awarded the 2020 Longines World's Best Racehorse title.

The Longines World Racing Awards also celebrated the Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1), held at ParisLongchamp in France, as the 2021 Longines World's Best Horse Race with a rating of 124.75. This award recognizes the best-rated race of the highest-rated Group 1 international races as established by a panel of international handicappers. The ratings of the top four finishers in each race serve as basis for the assessment.

This is the fifth time the Arc has won the award, with additional recognition coming in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. America's Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) won in 2016, while England's Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) took the title in 2020.

During the ceremony, Ryan Moore was also honoured as the Longines World's Best Jockey of the year. The awarding of the Longines World's Best Jockey title is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and Grade 1 races as established for the year by the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. Moore also was named the Longines World's Best Jockey in 2014 and 2016.

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Knicks Go Named 2021 World’s Best Racehorse in Longines Rankings

Knicks Go, winner of the $6 million Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic Nov. 6 at Del Mar, was named the world's best racehorse for 2021 in the year-end Longines World Racing Awards. The awards, presented by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), were presented during a virtual ceremony on Jan. 25.

What to Know About the Pegasus World Cup Day Races

This Saturday’s card at Gulfstream Park is absolutely stacked.

Sir Winston Looks To Repeat History In Pegasus World Cup

Tracy Farmer's Sir Winston is on course for a start in Saturday's $3 million Pegasus World Cup Invitational at Gulfstream Park 2 1/2 years after achieving his career highlight with a 14-1 upset victory in the 2019 Belmont Stakes.

Among the son of Awesome Again's victims in the third leg of the 2019 Triple Crown was War of Will, his more celebrated stablemate in the barn of Hall of Famer Mark Casse who was coming off a victory in the Preakness Stakes (G1) three weeks prior.

“I told people before the Belmont, 'I think you're missing somebody.' I said, 'It wouldn't shock me if he won.' He was doing really well,” Casse said. “I kind of feel the same way now. I think he's really back to himself and doing really well.”

Since prevailing in the Belmont, Sir Winston, who is scheduled to take on likely 2021 Horse of the Year and defending champion Knicks Go and Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner Life Is Good in a star-studded Pegasus World Cup field, has experienced some rough moments. None proved more costly than a futile trip to Dubai, where the 2020 Dubai World Cup was cancelled less than a week before the race due to the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic.

“We took him to Dubai. We were a few days from running and they cancelled the Dubai World Cup. We brought him back and it really knocked him on his rear,” Casse said. “He just didn't come back the same horse. We ran him a few times and he didn't run great. We just sent him home to Tracy's farm and gave him a long time off. He's come back and has gotten better and better.”

Sir Winston was out of action for just shy of a year but returned to the races a happier and healthier horse for a four-race campaign at Woodbine. The Kentucky homebred won an Aug. 19 allowance impressively, before finishing a close second in both the Grade 3 Durham Cup and the G2 Autumn. He capped off his very successful season with a victory in the 1 1/2-mile G3 Valedictory Dec. 5.

“He got a little unlucky in a couple spots. For him to win at a mile and sixteenth, he needs to have a pretty good pace. He needs things to go his way,” Casse said. “He could have easily won a couple more last year.”

Sir Winston, who has produced a solid series of five workouts at Palm Meadows Training Center in preparation of the Pegasus World Cup, has impressed Casse with his enthusiasm during his comeback.

“It's funny but I think he enjoys his job now more than before,” Casse said. “He's very professional. He always has been, but he trains better, acts better. This is going to be a heck of a race. Hopefully, we can get a piece of the pie.”

Sir Winston, who has always run his best races at distances longer than 1 1/16 miles, figures to race off the early pace in the 1 1/8-mile Pegasus, well behind Knicks Go and Life Is Good, the front-running winner of the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

“It looks like there will be some serious pace. Obviously, he needs a lot of things to go his way,” Casse said. “He's feeling really well, and we believe he deserves a chance.”

Sir Winston broke his maiden Sept. 12, 2018 in his third career start following off-the-board finishes in a Churchill Downs dirt sprint and a two-turn turf race at Woodbine, scoring in a dead-heat in a mile-and-70-yard maiden special weight race over Woodbine's all-weather surface. He concluded his juvenile campaign with a victory in the Display Stakes at Woodbine, encouraging Casse to try him on the Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Following out-of-the-money finishes in the G3 Withers at Aqueduct, G2 Tampa Bay Derby and G2 Blue Grass at Keeneland, Sir Winston didn't merit a start in the 2019 Kentucky Derby, but he did earn a start in the Belmont Stakes with a second-place finish in the G3 Peter Pan at Belmont.

Although War of Will faltered in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont to finish ninth, Sir Winston stepped up to put Casse in the winner's circle, closing from off the pace to win by a length over favored Tacitus.

Casse is hopeful that Sir Winston will be able to pull off his second big upset 2 1/2 years later in the Pegasus World Cup.

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