World Thoroughbred Rankings 2008.

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NEW APPROACH and Curlin shared top billing on Tuesday when the World Thoroughbred Rankings for 2008 were unveiled at a conference in London.

Both horses were awarded a rating of 130 for their best performance last term, enough for them to be jointly rated as the number one racehorse in the world.

The annual ‘league table' of top horses is compiled by a team international handicappers and, in a new development, now cover horses trained or racedanywhere in the world, on any surface.

The exception is the two-year-old list which accompanies the main rankings and is restricted purely to Europe, where the Aidan O'Brien-trained Mastercraftsman (122) becomes the fifth Ballydoyle juvenile champion in ten years.

The John Gosden-trained Rainbow View is top juvenile filly on a mark of 118.

New Approach, who has been retired to Darley, earns the title of world champion on the turf following a tremendous year for Jim Bolger in which he won the Derby and Irish Champion Stakes after finishing runner-up to Henrythenavigator in a pair of Guineas.

However, he earned his table-topping rating via his comprehensive six-length defeat of Twice Over in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket in October.

American superstar Curlin, who shares top spot overall, retains the accolade of top dirt performer for two performances.

The four-year-old earned a mark of130 for his stunning performance in the Dubai World Cup at Nad Al Sheba in March, when he routed an international field.

The handicapping panel responsible for this annual ‘league table' of top horses rated 115 or above also considered Curlin to have run to the same mark on his return to the US in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs in June.

Raven's Pass, who had Curlin back in fourth on the all-weather in the Breeders' Cup Classic, is rated just a pound behind the champions on 129.

Unbeaten Arc heroine Zarkava is the next in the list on a mark of 128, which makes her the world's champion filly or mare, with Duke Of Marmalade Europe's top older horse on 125.

Spectacular Breeders' Cup winner Zenyatta is the top dirt female on 125.

The sprint title has been shared between Midnight Lute, who completed back-to-back Breeders' Cup victories at Santa Anita, and Hong Kong star Sacred Kingdom.

Both horses earned a rating of 123, 2lb in front of Marchand D'Or, himself just a pound ahead of Overdose in the race to be crowned Europe's champion sprinter.

Kentucky Derby winner Big Brown was given 125, the same as St Leger and Breeders' Cup Turf hero Conduit and Henrythenavigator.

Conduit's mark of 122 from the St Leger earns him a share of the stayers' title alongside the Ballydoyle pair Yeats and Septimus.


TOP TEN OVERALL Ranking Horses Rating

1 Curlin (US) 130
New Approach (Ire) 130
3 Raven's Pass (GB) 129
4 Zarkava (Fr) 128
5 Duke Of Marmalade (Ire) 127
6 Big Brown (US) 125
Conduit (GB) 125
Goldikova (Fr) 125
Henrythenavigator (Ire) 125
Montmartre (Fr) 125
Youmzain (GB) 125
Zenyatta (US) 125

South African interest in the rankings:

23rd Eagle Mountain (123) * 2 -> 2nd BC Turf, 1st HK Cup
33rd Pocket Power (121) -> 1st Durban July
41st Archipenko (120) -> 1st QEII Cup
41st Honour Devil (120) -> 1st UAE Derby
41st Jay Peg (120) -> 1st Duty Free
41st J J The Jet Plane (120) * 2 -> 1st Golden Horse & Mercury Sprints
41st Sun Classsique (120) -> 1st Sheema Classic
80th Oracle West (118) -> 1st Meydan H'cap
80th Sushisan (118) -> 6th Sheema Classic
120th Asiatic Boy (117) -> 1st Al Shindagha Sprint, 2nd World Cup
155th Buy And Sell (116) -> 4th J&B Met
155th Hunting Tower (116) -> 3rd J&B Met
202nd Floatyourboat (115) * 2 -> 5th J&B Met, 6th Astrapak 1900
202nd King's Gambit (115) -> 1st SA Classic
202nd War Artist (115) * 3 -> 2nd Duke of York, 2nd Golden Jubilee, 3rd Darley July Cup

SAf-breds in bold

SEPTIMUS and Yeats, the joint top stayers in the World Thoroughbred Rankings, are back cantering at Ballydoyle as they head into another season as Aidan O'Brien's veterans on the track.

Speaking on Tuesday O'Brien said: "Septimus got very jarred up when he ran in the Melbourne Cup. He was sore when he came home and we gave him plenty of time to recover.

"He's just back cantering and we'll be taking him along gradually. It's too earlyto be talking about plans, but he'll be aimed at some of the top races from a mile and a half upwards."

Septimus, who completed O'Brien's clean sweep of the 2008 Irish Classics, is an eight-time winner who achieved his first Group 1 success when landing the Irish Field St Leger by 13 lengths in September.

Now six, Septimus is heading into his fifth season while Yeats, two years his senior, has been in training since he was two. His big target will be the Ascot Gold Cup, in which he will be attempting to become the first horse to win the 2m4f Group 1 event for the fourth time.

According to O'Brien, Yeats, a six-time Group 1 winner who rounded off last season by landing the Prix Royal-Oak at Longchamp in October, is back in light training. He said: "Like Septimus, Yeats has started back cantering recently.

"It's great for everyone that we have both horses back in training and we're all looking forward to another season with them. Obviously, the hope is that all will go well with Yeats and that he will go back to Ascot to try to win the Gold Cup again."