Greatest  Racehorses of the World

World Ratings - The greatest flat racehorse of the 20th Century

For the first place, the strongest contenders are Secretariat, Phar Lap, Man o'War and Sea Bird.I have selected Secretariat and Sea Bird for raw ability, Man o'War for consistency, and Phar Lap for durability and ability of revising the weight for Age Rules.

Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths, in world record timing, the greatest achievement in flat racing of the Century.On that day, he was a class ahead of the Man o'War’s and the Nijinsky’s, like a Bradman against the other best batsmen of the Century.It was the equivalent of leaving an average Epsom Derby winner a furlong behind from home!

He pulled away like a rocket propelling itself and performed the equivalent of a miracle, which no superlative could describe.Secretariat not only broke track records (won the Derby and Preakness in record time, his Derby record time still unequaled) but revealed amazing acceleration coming from behind like a bullet fired out of a gun.He won the Marlboro Cup against a truly great horse in Riva Ridge who won the previous tears Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes, as well as Cougar, another great.Conceding 7lb, he beat them on grass in the worst conditions!

This showed why he was simply the champion amongst superhorses.However, Secretariat’s flaws were his inability to remain unbeaten for an outstanding period of time (in that respect Man o'War surpassed him), and not proving his ability as a handicapper, like Phar Lap, Man o'War, etc..., as he was retired after the age of 3.Secretariat lost some races as a result of fever and unfortunate circumstances but, there have been racehorses with super toughness who have won in the most adverse of situations!

For his ability to revise the Weight-for–age rules and the only horse in the history of Flat Racing to do, so I rate Phar Lap on par with Secretariat.True he didn’t equal Secretariat’s raw ability, nor did he have the statistical win-loss records of Ribot or Man o'War, but he achieved 14 big races wins in a row, carrying the biggest handicaps and yet trouncing the opposition.

He also dominated racing for three successive seasons and beat the best that was there in the Caliente Handicap in Mexico in times when travelling was unheard of.It is difficult to envisage any horse who ran so well conceding such weight and he was the equivalent of Arkle to steeplechasing.However, as he ran in an era where the opposition was inferior to Secretariat and as a result oh his not equaling Secretariat’s best effort in the Belmont, I have not rated him ahead of Secretariat.

In raw ability, Sea Bird is Secretariat’s closest rival.The Arc field he trounced in 1965, had even superior opponents to Secretariat and yet he won by 6 lengths.However, that did not equal Secretariat’s Belmont effort.Sea Bird won the easiest Epsom Derby of all time.That win was at Epsom on a more testing mile and a half course on grass ground than Kentucky’s dirt track and thus I rate that effort above Secretariat’s Kentucky Derby win (the Kentucky Course is shorter and doesn't necessarily test a horse's staying ability).The Epsom Derby is a greater test than the Kentucky Derby.However, Sea Bird was not given a chance to prove his ability to carry handicaps and only had one major season, so I personally place him inferior to Phar Lap, and his best performance did not equal Secretariat's Belmont.

Man o'War could have been the greatest horse of all if he had beaten the opponents of Secretariat and Sea Bird.However, in his time racing was not as competitive.He won races by margins of up to 100 lengths and won big races like the Belmont by 20 lengths.He was beaten only once in 21 Starts, that too in unfortunate circumstances!

He not only carried big handicaps but set 5 track records, 2 that lasted for 50 years.However in durability and ability to concede weight he did not equal Phar Lap and thus, I place him on par with Sea Bird.Never did Man o'War equal Secretariat's Belmont Stakes win nor did he face equal opposition must be considered that in Man o'War’s time tracks were possibly slower and the level of opposition inferior, thus he didn’t have the pace to race against to enable his timings to be comparable with Secretariat.

Although, the great horse vanquished the previous year’s Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton receiving 7lb. by 7 lengths in the Kenilworth Gold Cup, that did not equal Secretariat’s beating Riva Ridge (a better horse) and Cougar in record time in the Marlboro Cup conceding 6lb.I don’t think Man o'War’s Lawrence Realization win can be compared to Secretariat’s Belmont as it was a 2 horse race and the runner-up was pulled up!

The most unfortunate horse to lose his position amongst the very best of all time was Citation, as a result of the performances in his post-3 year old career.Otherwise, I feel he was on par with Sea Bird and Man o'War.

Citation achieved the greatest statistical achievement of all time winning 16 races in a row and 19 out of 20 starts including winning the Triple Crown, the best ever by a 3 year old in racing history.He won in all types of conditions, by huge margins, setting several track records (perhaps the most versatile of Champions).Citation also won with handicaps.He won the Triple Crown showing amazing acceleration in all his wins.In total, he won 32 out of 45 starts and he could have been rated above Man o'War, however then began a slide and Citation lost 10 more times in his remaining 15 races tarnishing his record as a 4 and 5 year old.

For toughness, Ribot compares with Phar Lap.In this respect, he surpassed Sea Bird and Secretariat.He won in 3 different countries when travelling was considered impossible and has a world record of having remained unbeaten in 16 starts (won the Arc twice, the second by a record 6 lengths which looked like 8).He also won over distances of 5 furlongs to a mile and a half with ridiculous ease(beat the best in Italy by margins of 15 lengths that to just after his first Arc win!).However, I rate Citation ahead as Citation ran through a whole classic American Season while the majority of Ribot’s wins were achieved in Italy.Citation also broke track records and showed superior raw ability.Ribot never faced the opposition that Secretariat or Sea Bird faced winning most of his races against Italian opponents.

I rate Brigadier Gerard and Mill Reef on par with Ribot, while I rate Nijinsky below them.These colts never equaled Secretariat or Sea Bird’s raw ability nor did they have Phar-Lap ability to revise the weight for age rules.

Statistically, Ribot and the Brigadier’s records in terms of percentage of races won, are the greatest ever, while Nijinsky has the best big race combination ever won by a racehorse, winning the Triple Crown plus the King George and the Irish Sweeps.Brigadier Gerard was unbeaten in 15 consecutive races.This is a British Racing record, more creditable than Ribot as Ribot raced in Italy while the Brigadier raced in Britain.The manner Mill Reef trounced his opponents may have been as impressive as Sea Bird, particularly in the Prix Ganay (won it by 10 lengths), but he never faced such strong opposition.

Mill Reef is placed ahead of Nijinsky, as though he did not equal Nijinsky’s statistical achievements, he surpassed him in the manner he achieved them as well as faced superior opposition.The horses Mill Reef beat like Caro, (older champion horse who won the Prix Ganay in record time), Ortis (champion Italian older horse) and Pistol Packer (champion French filly), by margins of 4 lengths, 6 lengths and 3 lengths, in the Eclipse, King George and Arc respectively, were in my opinion superior to Nijinsky’s best performance beating horses like Blakeney (1969 Epsom Derby winner who finished 5th in the 1969 and 1970 Arcs), in the King George or beating the talented Sea Bird’s son Gyr in the Epsom Derby by 2 and a half lengths.Nijinsky didn’t equal Ribot in the manner the opposition was thrashed.

Spectacular Bid and Seattle Slew, some critics may argue may have surpassed the Mill Reef’s and the Nijinsky’s.Personally, I rate Mill Reef superior to the Bid and give Nijinsky equal rating although, I believe the Bid had superior natural ability to Nijinsky and equal raw ability to Mill Reef.

The Bid in my view although set more track records, carried greater handicaps and won more races didn’t face the opposition faced by Mill Reef in the big races (Mill Reef won in equally impressive style), nor did he win the majority of his races over a distance of a mile and a half races in plum middle-distance events.The Bid gave his best performances upto 10 furlongs (where he set records) and never proved himself over a mile and a half.Spectacular Bid lost the Belmont Stakes as well as went down to a great horse in Affirmed by ¾ of a length in the 1979 Jockey Club Cup, two performances which I have taken into consideration.

Spectacular Bid’s 3 year old statistical record and big-race combination does not equal that of Nijinsky, who faced the same calibre of opposition but was marginally inferior to Spectacular Bid in the way he achieved them.Nijinsky was a superior stayer winning big races over 10 furlongs, over a mile and a half (the Epsom and Irish Derby, King George and the Leger).Nijinsky however, did not race as a 4 year old where Spectacular Bid achieved a great sequence of wins carrying handicaps.

The same logic applies to Seattle Slew (although a better stayer than Spectacular Bid winning big races like the Belmont and the Jockey Club Cup), who won the Triple Crown unbeaten (the only American horse ever to achieve this).Seattle Slew did not face as stiff opposition nor did he win with the same authority as Mill Reef in his big races and though he won the Triple Crown, I rate Nijinsky’s Triple Crown achievement higher as not only he added the King George and Irish Derby but won all the Triple Crown legs in distances of far greater variation.However, Seattle Slew won races against top-class opposition as a 4 year old beating Exceller, Affirmed, etc., and also carried handicaps up to 134 lbs.He also had a gallant defeat to Exceller carrying a huge handicap,with his saddle slipping.

Although, I place Kelso 9th=, in terms of durability he was the best, being horse-of the year for 5 seasons from 1960 to 1964 (World Record) and winning the handicappers triple crown.However, in raw ability, he was inferior to the others and didn’t surpass Phar Lap in winning 14 races in a row, that too with such ease.

The unluckiest omissions have been Dancing Brave,Forego and Dr.Fager, in the post-war phase.Although, Dancing Brave achieved his Arc win in the greatest middle-distance field faced since Sea Bird, coming of the pace as perhaps no horse ever did in the history of the big race (ran the last furlong in a record 10.8secs), he didn’t display the consistency of Mill Reef or Nijinsky.

His performances in the Epsom Derby, Eclipse and King George, were below Mill Reef’s, while I rate Nijinsky’s performance superior in the 2000 Guineas, Epsom Derby and King George (Refer to European Article).

Similarly, as a result of Brigadier Gerard facing superior opposition in more demanding conditions, I have rated him above Dr.Fager (who had an absolutely outstanding Record).Kelso marginally won the nod over Forego for being Champion Racehorse for 5 successive seasons against Forego’s 3.Although, Forego was handicapped ahead, I rate Kelso’s achievement superior (Forego is the only horse to have won the title of Champion middle-distance, Champion Sprinter and Champion Stayer in the same season.He also won carrying 137 pounds) Kelso nosed out Forego by the narrowest of margins.

In the pre-war phase although Tudor Minstrel and Hyperion showed exceptional raw ability,they did not prove their consistency as those in my list.Bayardo,I feel was the unluckiest not to make the list amongst pre-war horses.He won 15 races in a row simply demolishing his opponents,winning one of the greatest Ascot Gold Cups.However in his time racing was possibly less competitive than the eras of the Sea Bird's and the Nijinsky's.

Relevant Statistics

1. In terms of distance, a big race has been won Secretariat’s achievement is the greatest winning by 31 lengths.

2. The best big race winning combination is by Nijinsky.He won the Triple Crown plus the Irish Derby and King George and equivalent something no horse has equalled.For plum events of older horses combination, Mill Reef won the Epsom Derby, Eclipse Stakes, King George, Arc, Prix Ganay and Coronation Cup in a row, a remarkable older horses big race combination (obtain 6 group 1 races in a row).

3. Phar Lap is the only horse to change the Weight for Age Rules.His winning a race out of his native country Australia against a high-class International Field, was remarkable as travelling was unheard of in those days.

4. In terms of percentage of races won Ribot and Brigadier Gerard stand out, the former 16 out of 16, the latter 17 out of 18, including 15 consecutive wins.For a single season, Citation is the greatest having won 19 out of 20 starts, including the Triple Crown.In his whole career Man o’War lost once in 21 starts but didn’t achieve the Brigadier’s, Citation’s and Ribot’s consecutive wins.

5. Man o’War maintained some of his track records for a period upto 50 years.He also won a race by 100 lengths but that was against only one horse who was virtually pulled up!.

6. No horse has achieved the title of horse of the year for 5 consecutive seasons apart from Kelso.It is an incomparable feat.

7. Sea Bird beat the greatest field ever in the 1965 Arc, beating French Derby winner Reliance, Washington International Winner, Diatome, and American Derby winner, Tom Rolfe by 6 lengths. Etc.

8. Seattle Slew is the only American horse to win the triple Crown undefeated.

9. Spectacular Bid set more track records as a 4 year old by any racehorse in America and was unbeaten at that age in more races than any racehorse.

When I have put an equal to sign, means I have not been able to assess which horse was better.