Arrogate retained his top position on the Longines World’s Best Racehorse rankings released last Thursday with a rating of 134. Australian mare Winx remains number two, rated 132. Cracksman, on the strength of his victory in the Qipco Champion Stakes, is rated 130, up from 122, edging Gun Runner, whose Breeders’ Cup Classic victory bumped his rating from 127 to 129. The top five is rounded out by super filly Enable, at 128.

Arrogate (Liesl King)

Arrogate retains the top spot despite three straight losses because the standings are based on each horse’s top performance during the year. For Arrogate, that was the Dubai World Cup, where he came from last, passed Gun Runner in the stretch with total ease and won going away.

After the Longines handicapping panel sorts things out during its December meeting in Hong Kong, the final year-end rankings for 2017 will be revealed during the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Ceremony in January. The top rung is unlikely to feature Arrogate.

No question who’s atop the Churchill Downs all-time training list. Dale Romans is the guy, breaking out of a tie with Bill Mott as he sent out Storm Runner to win Sunday’s sixth race. Romans, the quintessential south side Louisvillian, now has 703 wins under the Twin Spires, leaving Mott second with 702. Mott had held the record for more than 31 years and said, “That’s long enough. That’s long enough for anybody to hold a record.”

Romans said, “It is truly an honour to stand here as the all-time leading trainer at Churchill Downs. With everything I’ve done in my career at Churchill Downs, and around the country, nothing beats this moment right now.” He heaped praise on his staff and life partner Tammy Fox.

“Everybody knows there’s one goal left out there – one major goal – and that one takes a lot of luck to get to it,” Romans said. “That would be to win a Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Every 2-year-old in the barn is a Derby horse until they prove they’re not.”

Romans trained Shackleford to a fourth-place finish in the 2011 Run for the Roses.

– thoroughbrednews.com.au