2010 World Thoroughbred Rankings

[horses4courses]

Fumbling to open the envelope at the podium.....a sudden hushed silence falls upon the room.

" And the winner is........Harbinger?"


http://www.paulickreport.com/news/racing/harbinger-leads-2010-world-thoroughbred-rankings/

[OTM Al]

He ran one absolutely tremendous race before being injured in training. It was his only Group 1 win (i'd gone against him as he was stepping way up....). Definitely a top 5 for performance of the year if not the best, but this is pretty much based on that alone. He was the heavy Arc favorite after that win btw

[Cardus]

Some people are not going to be happy about this.

(Good for So You Think making the list, by the way.)

[OTM Al]

Makfi is the one that looks rated way to high to me. He is a monster on soggy turf (gave Goldikova her only loss plus 2000 Guineas win) but becomes a mouse when it firms up. Fillies and mares are always going to be rated lower due to weight allowences.

[PaceAdvantage]

Holy Moly. Big 'Z' not even cracking the top 10?

Can't say I'm surprised...cream puff sked all year and all...don't tell that to Nikki though...she thinks Z faced tougher horses pre-BC than Blame did... :lol:

[Cardus]

Holy Moly. Big 'Z' not even cracking the top 10?

Can't say I'm surprised...cream puff sked all year and all...don't tell that to Nikki though...she thinks Z faced tougher horses pre-BC than Blame did... :lol:

I think that you are confusing Nikki with Mikki, but its your board and you probably are correct.

[maiom01]

Holy Moly. Big 'Z' not even cracking the top 10?

Can't say I'm surprised...cream puff sked all year and all...don't tell that to Nikki though...she thinks Z faced tougher horses pre-BC than Blame did... :lol:

Dude...It's getting old..Just like this forum..

[cj]

Dude...It's getting old..Just like this forum..

Thanks cmoore.

[PaceAdvantage]

Dude...It's getting old..Just like this forum..No its not, it's a brand new list...and Z keeps dropping further and further off of it...

Which is kind of surprising, considering she only lost to Blame by a head...yet Blame is right near the top...weird how that works, isn't it?

[thaskalos]

No its not, it's a brand new list...and Z keeps dropping further and further off of it...

Which is kind of surprising, considering she only lost to Blame by a head...yet Blame is right near the top...weird how that works, isn't it?As I recall...when Zenyatta was near the top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings - before last year's Classic - both you and CJ were quite sure that these rankings were very inaccurate in the way they rated American-raced horses.

Has their accuracy suddenly improved?

[Robert Fischer]

What a clueless list.

Without adding handicapping = How is Blame 2nd? Wayyyyyy to many bears running around this planet on the turf. No matter how much you may like Blame, that is a reality.

adding an elite level of handicapping (which isn't really fair inspite of claims that they are world class tbred handicappers) the list is COMICAL.

[BluegrassProf]

As I recall...when Zenyatta was near the top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings - before last year's Classic - both you and CJ were quite sure that these rankings were very inaccurate in the way they rated American-raced horses.

Has their accuracy suddenly improved?Gah..I must have some sorta malware on my 'puter that doesn't let me see all these posts about list accuracy.

Drat. :ThmbDown:

[OTM Al]

Blame's rating may be from the Whitney result, not the BC. And as I said before, weights play a role here. Zenyatta may have been a nose behind Blame at the BC, but not at equal weight, so naturally she would be rated a few pounds below him.

[FenceBored]

As I recall...when Zenyatta was near the top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings - before last year's Classic - both you and CJ were quite sure that these rankings were very inaccurate in the way they rated American-raced horses.


Tied for 9th with Twice over in the one just before the Classic (http://www.horseracingintfed.com/resources/2010Rankings/2010_1007_WTR.asp) (Blame right behind her at 11 with 124 for the Whitney).


Has their accuracy suddenly improved?

No, but maybe the opportunity for "rubbing it in" did?

I'd have to look back in detail (will do that later), but I believe there's a BC Classic bias in their rankings.

[nearco]

Blame's rating may be from the Whitney result, not the BC. And as I said before, weights play a role here. Zenyatta may have been a nose behind Blame at the BC, but not at equal weight, so naturally she would be rated a few pounds below him.

Blame's number comes from the BC Classic, as does Zenyatta's. In essence he is rated 1lb above her, as you mentioned the ratings are straight across the board level weights, so she would get 3lbs from him in reality.
Likewise with the 3yos, you can add 5lbs to their number, which IMHO overrates Makfi's run in the Prix Marois. But then he did finish 2 lengths clear of Goldikova and Paco Boy in that race (albeit with the ground in his favour).

This is the performance that put Harbinger in the top spot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mo7pEsp2WKc

Have to say he was well worth it.

[PaceAdvantage]

As I recall...when Zenyatta was near the top of the World Thoroughbred Rankings - before last year's Classic - both you and CJ were quite sure that these rankings were very inaccurate in the way they rated American-raced horses.

Has their accuracy suddenly improved?Honestly, I don't recall commenting on any inaccuracy last time...and I don't think I claimed they are accurate THIS time...just interesting....

[FenceBored]

I'd say there's a slight ranking bias toward the BC Classic when it comes to North American racing and the World Thoroughbred Rankings. Since 2003 only once (2003) has the Classic winner not been in the top two non-turf performances.

[nearco]

I'd say there's a slight ranking bias toward the BC Classic when it comes to North American racing and the World Thoroughbred Rankings. Since 2003 only once (2003) has the Classic winner not been in the top two non-turf performances.

That kind would make sense though. The BC Classic is almost always the most loaded field in US dirt racing. A lot of how these guys (official handicappers) figure these numbers out is on a who-beat-who-by-how-many-lengths basis (which is probably a less than ideal approach for dirt racing). It seems like the top US dirt horses often spend the year shadow boxing and avoiding each other, so the the only time you get to gauge them all against each other is often in the BCC.

[cj]

Honestly, I don't recall commenting on any inaccuracy last time...and I don't think I claimed they are accurate THIS time...just interesting....

I don't think I did either.

[FenceBored]

Alan Shuback calls WTR "flawed," no really!

To put it bluntly, we would be better served with a system that awarded ratings based on each horse’s complete annual record, not just his seasonal best.
-- http://www.drf.com/news/flaws-exposed-world-thoroughbred-rankings