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Dettori Scoops Longines Award For Fourth Time

Frankie Dettori turned 50 at the end of 2020 and it was yet another memorable year for the jockey on the racecourse, during which he earned his third consecutive Longines World's Best Jockey Award. He first won the award in 2015.

“Whoever thought at my age I could still do it,” said Dettori from his home in Newmarket as he joined the Longines Racing Awards via a video link.

The most successful horses with which the Italian-born jockey was associated in 2020 were the European champion 3-year-old colt, Palace Pier (GB) (Kingman {GB}), champion stayer Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and the recently retired Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}), who recorded an historic hat-trick in the G1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth S. at Ascot. All three were trained in Newmarket by John Gosden.

“It goes without saying that she is the horse I've loved most in my life,” said Dettori of Enable, who was the joint-best horse in the world in 2019 along with Crystal Ocean (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Waldgeist (GB) (Galileo {Ire}).

“We tried to win three Arcs and we couldn't make it but she won three King Georges, which was a record. I do miss her a lot. She gave racing and the public so much joy and she has really helped me to win this Longines World's Best Jockey.”

While Enable is now at Juddmonte's Banstead Manor Stud awaiting her first cover by Kingman, both Palace Pier and Stradivarius have remained in training at Gosden's Clarehaven Stables. Now seven and still an entire, Stradivarius is being primed for a fourth Gold Cup at Ascot, the racecourse at which Dettori completed his infamous 'Magnificent Seven' in September 1996.

He added, “I think this has been a great initiative by Longines to start this World's Best Jockey championship from the results of the 100 best races around the world. It's great for us to be recognised around the world and for me to win it four times now is a great honour.”

Only three jockeys have won the award since it was founded in 2014. Ryan Moore was the inaugural winner and took the title again in 2016. Australia's Hugh Bowman, best known for his association with Winx (Aus), was the Longines World's Best Jockey in 2017.

The award is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and Grade 1 races throughout the year, with jockeys given 12 points for a winning ride, six points for finishing second, and four points for third.

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Hollymount Tops Goffs UK January Sale

Debut bumper winner Hollymount (Ire) (Jet Away {GB}) (lot 52) commanded the top price of £300,000 during the Goffs UK January Sale timed online auction on Tuesday when sold to Bective Stud. The 5-year-old Hollymount is a half-sister to Grade 2-placed winners Windsor Avenue (Ire) (Winged Love {Ire}) and Ravenhill Road (Ire) (Exit To Nowhere).

Hollymount was sold on behalf of Peter and Alan Buchanan who said after the sale, “it was a nerve-wracking and exhilarating experience watching the auction countdown, we were kept on the edge of our seats as the bids kept coming in. Goffs did a great job, they have proven their online system can sell these elite horses and we are delighted with the result. We wish the Morans and Gordon the best of luck on the racecourse and hope that she helps to further enhance the pedigree before enjoying a long career in the breeding shed with Apple's Jade.”

The sale saw three horses sold for six figures, with 36 horses (51%) selling altogether for £1,138,100.

Goffs UK Managing Director Tim Kent said after Goffs's first timed online auction, “This was very much about breaking new ground for Goffs and we were delighted with the first attempt. Having to sell online was obviously not our first choice but given the current circumstances we had no other options and we felt it was worth offering an outlet for their horses. We were thrilled with the support that we received from our vendors and we are delighted with the outcome.

“A top price of £300,000 is fantastic for any sale and three six-figure prices is a great advert for these online sales. We are not going to pretend that trade was strong at all levels of the market but that reflects the current market and there is every chance that we would have seen the same outcome if these horses were sold in a traditional format. We will now review the sale and get feedback from vendors and purchasers. There are always improvements that can be made with any sale and whilst lockdowns continue in the UK and Ireland, we will look at other options for the Goffs Online platform in the coming months.”

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York On Top Of The World

York's G1 Juddmonte International S. didn't just provide the world's best 130-rated performance of 2020 for Ghaiyyath (Ire) but, with its stellar back-up cast of seven-time Group 1 winner Magical (Ire), the G1 St James's Palace S. winner Lord North (Ire) and 2000 Guineas hero Kameko, the race was also judged to be the Longines World's Best Horse Race last year on ratings.

Along with announcing the World's Best Racehorse Rankings on Tuesday, Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) also published the list of top 100 Group 1 and Grade 1 races of the year. It is the first time that the Juddmonte International has achieved this accolade and its rating of 125.25 was derived from the average rating of the first four finishers in the race.

William Derby, chief executive and clerk of the course at York Racecourse, said, “This is a huge honour and a thrill. It's what we're all about at York Racecourse in terms of trying to attract the very best horses and jockeys to race on the Knavesmire. We're thrilled to be named number one against all the wonderful races around the global sport of horseracing.”

He continued, “We're incredibly grateful to Longines and the IFHA for compiling these ratings, ranking every [Group/Grade 1] race around the world based on the first four horses home. To come top of that pile is a huge honour. We're delighted and grateful for their support, and that of the connections of every horse, and Juddmonte Farms, without whom we wouldn't be able to stage such a magnificent race for everyone to enjoy.”

The QIPCO Irish Champion S. at Leopardstown, in which Magical turned the tables on Ghaiyyath, was the second highest-rated race in the world last year on 124.75, with Armory (Ire) and subsequent Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winner Sottsass (Fr) completing the first four.

With Japan's darling of the racecourse, Almond Eye (Jpn) set to make her swansong, the Japan Cup of 2020 was always going to be special, not least because the field also featured the two best 3-year-olds in the country, Triple Crown winner Contrail (Jpn) and Triple Tiara winner Daring Tact (Jpn) (Epiphaneia {Jpn}). The star trio crossed the line in that order in Tokyo, with Curren Bouquetd'or (Jpn) (Dee Impact {Jpn}) in fourth to make the Japan Cup the third top race of the year on 124.50.

Japan had two races in the top five, the other being the Tenno Sho, which was joint-fourth with the Breeders' Cup Turf at Keeneland on 123.75. Also making the top ten were the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, Tokyo's Yasuda Kinen, the Prix Jacques le Marois at Deauville, the QIPCO Champion S. at Ascot, and the Arima Kinen, run at Nakayama.

Churchill Downs staged both the highest-rated race in the world for fillies only, the Kentucky Oaks (119.25), won by Shedaresthedevil (Daredevil), and the highest-rated race reserved for 3-year-olds, the Kentucky Derby (121.25), won by subsequent Breeders' Cup Classic hero Authentic.

Among the 11 countries in the list of top Group/Grade 1 races run at 40 different racecourses, Australia, with 25, was the world leader, followed by Britain (18), Japan (14), America (13), France (9), Hong Kong (9), South Africa (6), Ireland (4), Germany (3), Argentina (1), and New Zealand (1). The 2020 list of top races stretches to 103 contests owing to a six-way tie for the 98th spot.

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Lope De Vega Filly For Oaks Winner Anapurna

Meon Valley Stud's foaling season has got off to the best possible start with the arrival of the first foal for the 2019 Oaks winner Anapurna (GB). The daughter of Frankel (GB) produced a chestnut filly by Lope De Vega (Ire) at the Hampshire farm early on Monday morning.

“As you can imagine we're absolutely delighted,” said Meon Valley Stud owner Mark Weinfeld. “You never know what's going to happen, so to have a filly as her first foal is fantastic. She arrived at six o'clock this morning and she's a very nice first foal.”

A fifth generation homebred for the stud, Anapurna traces back to one of Meon Valley's three foundation mares, the 1979 1000 Guineas winner One In A Million (Ire) (Rarity {GB}). Trained by John Gosden, Anapurna became the first British Classic winner for Frankel at Epsom following her win in the Lingfield Oaks Trial. Later that season she won the G1 Qatar Prix de Royallieu on Arc weekend. The 5-year-old mare is booked to visit Dubawi (Ire) at Dalham Hall Stud this season.

Anapurna's foal is the first of 22 expected at Meon Valley Stud this season and the team will be anxiously awaiting the arrival of a full-sibling to the Classic heroine in March. Since delivering Anapurna, Dash To The Top (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}) has not produced a foal in the intervening years but she is currently in foal to Frankel on a March 5 cover.

Weinfeld said, “We've had some tricky moments with Dash To The Top and we're just hoping she will go full term. She normally runs late so we are estimating that she will foal in the first week of March.”

While no decision has yet been reached for Dash To The Top's 2021 mating, a trip to Frankel is on the cards for dual Group 1 winner Izzi Top (GB) Pivotal {GB}), who is in foal to Invincible Spirit (Ire). Izzi Top's Group 2-winning half-sister Jazzi Top (GB) (Danehill Dancer {Ire}) is in foal to Dubawi and will visit Sea The Moon (Ger) at Lanwades Stud this year.

Oaks runner-up Shirocco Star (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}), the dam of G2 Dante S. winner and new Haras du Mesnil stallion Telecaster (GB) (New Approach {GB}), is currently in foal to Dubawi, with whom she has already produced the listed winner and Group 3 runner-up Al Suhail. She will visit Kingman (GB) next.

The first-season sires Kameko, Pinatubo (Ire) and Mohaather (GB) will each be sent a mare from Meon Valley Stud in 2021.

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