The 2021 Longines World’s Best Racehorse award went to Knicks Go. (Photo credit: Jessica Morgan/Breeders’ Cup/Eclipse Sportswire/CSM).
Co-organized by Swiss watch brand Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), the ninth edition of the Longines World Racing Awards honored 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 (USA), 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.
Knicks Go Wins Breeders’ Cup Classic
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).
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The Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings are established by international handicappers according to the performance of the horses in top races. The Longines World Racing Awards 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 honored 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.
