Top 10 LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings

Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport in which two or more horses compete over a specified distance while being ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders). It is one of the oldest sports, with its essential concept - determining which of two or more horses is the quickest across a specified course or distance – unaltered since classical antiquity.

Here are the top 10 LONGINES World's Best Racehorse Rankings

1. Adayar (IRE) Godolphin

Adayar (foaled March 31, 2018) is an Irish-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse that won the Epsom Derby in 2021. As a two-year-old in 2020, he showed potential by winning the second of his two appearances by nine lengths. He finished second in both the Sandown Classic Trial and the Lingfield Derby Trial the following year before winning the Derby in an upset. He went on to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes on his second appearance, becoming the first Derby winner in 20 years to do so.

Sheikh Mohammed's Godolphin organization bred Adayar, a bay colt, in Ireland. He was transferred to Moulton Paddocks in Newmarket, Suffolk, to train with Charlie Appleby. 

Cracksman, Anapurna, Soul Stirring, and Without Parole were among the foals sired by Frankel, an unbeaten racehorse whose other descendants were Cracksman, Anapurna, Soul Stirring, and Without Parole. Anna Salai, Adayar's dam, was a top racemare who won the Prix de la Grotte and was second in the Irish 1000 Guineas. She was a daughter of Prix d'Aumale winner Anna Palariva, who was a daughter of Park Hill Stakes winner Anna of Saxony.

2. St. Mark's Basilica (FR)

St. Mark's Basilica (foaled 18 March 2018) is a Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in France and trained in Ireland. In 2020, he was ranked Europe's finest two-year-old after winning two of his five races, including the Dewhurst Stakes. He won the Poule d'Essai des Poulains in his first run of 2021. He went on to win the Prix du Jockey Club and the Eclipse Stakes, defeating older horses.

Robert Scarborough bred St Mark's Basilica, a bay colt with an uneven white blaze and two white socks, in France. He was put to the Tattersalls sale in October 2019 as a yearling, and Michael Magnier acquired him for 1,300,000 guineas on behalf of his father, John Magnier's Coolmore Stud organization. He competed in the colors of Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, and Michael Tabor, all of whom are Coolmore partners. He was sent to Ballydoyle to train with Aidan O'Brien.

He was one of the eighth crop of foals produced by the Aga Khan's stallion Siyouni, who had his best success in the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardère in 2009. Sottsass, Laurens, and Ervedya are among his other children. Cabaret, the dam of St Mark's Basilica, won two races for Coolmore, including the Silver Flash Stakes, and went on to be a highly successful broodmare, producing the 2000 Guineas winner Magna Grecia. She was a descendant of Fiddlededee, the British broodmare who gave us Mountain Lodge, Might and Power, Lucky Owners, and Sariska.

3. Palace Pier (GB)

Palace Pier is a British Thoroughbred racehorse who was foaled on March 20, 2017. He won two minor races as a juvenile and a handicap race on his three-year-old debut before establishing himself as a top-class horse with wins in the St James's Palace Stakes and the Prix Jacques Le Marois. He won the Sandown Mile, Lockinge Stakes, Queen Anne Stakes, and another Prix Jacques Le Marois in 2021.

The Highclere Stud & Floors Farming in England bred Palace Pier, a bay colt with a white star. In October 2018, he was auctioned as a yearling at Tattersalls and purchased for 600,000 guineas by trainer John Gosden. He started his racing career with Godolphin, but before long he was sold to Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum's ownership.

4. Knicks Go (USA)

Knicks Go (foaled January 29, 2016) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who has won the Pegasus World Cup, Prairie Meadows Cornhusker Handicap, and Whitney Stakes, making him one of the best ranked older horses in 2021. He won the Breeders' Futurity as a two-year-old in 2018 before placing second in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. After being winless as a three-year-old, he finished his four-year-old career with a victory in the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile.

Angie Moore and her daughter Sabrina at GreenMount Farm in Reisterstown, Maryland, bred Knicks Go, a gray horse. Paynter's second crop includes him, who won the Haskell Invitational and is most remembered for overcoming a near-fatal episode of colitis and laminitis. Kosmo's Buddy, a stakes-winning daughter of Outflanker who was claimed by the Moore's for $40,000 at the conclusion of a 37-race career, was the dam of Knicks Go.

5. Mishriff (IRE)

Mishriff (foaled 1 April 2017) is a Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Ireland and trained in the United Kingdom. He emerged as a top-class middle-distance runner in the next year, winning the Newmarket Stakes, Prix du Jockey Club, and Prix Guillaume d'Ornano, after showing considerable promise while winning one small race as a two-year-old in 2019. He was campaigned abroad in the spring of 2021, winning the second edition of the Saudi Cup on dirt and the Dubai Sheema Classic on grass. He was placed in the Eclipse Stakes, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, and the International Stakes after returning to Europe. He has won the equivalent of almost £11 million pounds in prize money as of August 2021.

6. Nature Strip (AUS)

Nature Strip (foaled 16 November 2014) is an Australian thoroughbred racehorse that has won six Group 1 races. At a yearling auction, Nature Strip was passed in for $90,000, but was subsequently sold for $100,000 to a consortium of Melbourne owners. 

On October 17, 2017, Nature Strip, initially trained by Robert Smerdon, won his first race as a 3-year-old in a 1000m maiden at Mornington. He was defeated in his next and first metropolitan start, but he won the following three races he ran, including the 1100m Inglis Dash at Flemington in January 2018. Due to Smerdon's suspension, Robert Hickmott was temporarily in command, but before his next start, John Sadler (a member of Smerdon's Aquanita group) had taken over. In both of his fall 2018 appearances, including the Group 2 Euclase Stakes in Adelaide, the horse was defeated. After the race, Nature Strip did not do well.

7. Domestic Spending (GB)

Domestic Spending began his career with back-to-back triumphs in one-mile turf races, the first at Tampa Bay Downs in February 2020 and the second at Belmont Park in June 2020. The Kingman gelding was then put to the test against stakes competition, finishing third in the Grade 2 National Museum of Racing Hall of Fame Stakes at Saratoga on July 18.

Domestic Spending won his first stakes race in his career when he beat Gufo by a head in the $500,000 Saratoga Derby Invitational Stakes on August 15 at Saratoga.

8. Mystic Guide (USA)

Mystic Guide is a thoroughbred horse that was born in 2017 in the United States of America. Mystic Guide is a racehorse trained by Michael Stidham and is by Ghostzapper (USA) out of Music Note (USA). The Mystic Guide form may be found here. Godolphin is the owner of this horse.

9. Poetic Flare (IRE)

Poetic Flare is an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse who was foaled on March 26, 2018. As a two-year-old in 2020, he showed potential by winning two of his three races, including the Killavullan Stakes. On his first race of 2021, he won the Leopardstown 2,000 Guineas Trial Stakes before winning the 2000 Guineas. After finishing second in the Irish 2000 Guineas, he won the Royal Ascot St James's Palace Stakes.

He was one of the fourth crop of foals sired by Dawn Approach, who won the National Stakes, Dewhurst Stakes, 2000 Guineas, and St James's Palace Stakes while being trained by Bolger. Madhmoon, the runner-up in the Epsom Derby, is one of his best offspring.[2] Poetic Flare's dam Maria Lee had no racing talent, finishing last in her lone start, but she fared well as a broodmare, producing numerous other winners, notably the Zetland Stakes winner Glamorous Approach. Elida, her dam, was a half-sister to Teofilo's dam. 

10. Subjectivist (GB)

Subjectivist (foaled March 30, 2017) is a British Thoroughbred racehorse who is most renowned for his long-distance achievements. He showed considerable promise as a two-year-old, winning one minor event out of seven starts and placing second in the Listed Stonehenge Stakes. He won the Listed Glasgow Stakes, the Group 3 March Stakes, and was placed in the King George V Stakes and the Gordon Stakes the following year before finishing his season with a Group 1 triumph in the Prix Royal Oak. He won the Dubai Gold Cup and the Ascot Gold Cup as a four-year-old.