Best horserace in the world run in York
A RENOWNED race run in York has been named the world's best horserace 2024.
The Juddmonte International run at York Racecourse is Longines World’s Best Horserace in 2024, getting the global top spot for the second time in the last five renewals.
The prestigious Longines World Racing Awards were hosted by the global racing body, The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) at The Savoy in London today (Tuesday January 21).
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William Derby, chief executive and clerk of the course said: “It is such an honour that our flagship race, the Group 1 Juddmonte International, has been awarded the Longines World’s Best Horserace 2024.
"It is the ultimate recognition for the vision, commitment and investment by the York Race Committee and Juddmonte over the past four decades. So many people play a part in delivering fabulous horse races such as these at the global elite level; this is a credit to all of them.
"Of course, it would not be possible without the support of the connections of the horses themselves - we are incredibly grateful to those owners of the thirteen fabulous thoroughbreds and to the trainers, jockeys and racing staff who contributed to the memorable spectacle as well as everyone who supports racing at York.
"To win for a second time so joining a small cohort of the world’s iconic races only reinforces the commitment of everyone at York to top quality sporting action. We thank Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities who have been instrumental in promoting elite thoroughbred horseracing around the world and I am thrilled to have collected the Award from them, on behalf of the entire York team.”
William Derby The title honours the best rated race of the 100 highest-rated Group/Grade 1s around the world out of the many hundreds of thousands of thoroughbred flat races staged around the world each year. The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings are established by handicappers from the major international jurisdictions, according to the performance of the horses in top races, and the ratings of the top four finishers in each race serve as basis for the award.
It reflects the combined high-quality of the first four horses home in the Juddmonte International, when it was run on Wednesday, August 21, as the centrepiece of the Sky Bet Ebor Festival.
The race offered a record prize fund of £1,250,000 and attracted the largest and most international field of horses since the race was first run in 1972.
The Juddmonte International was won in a record time by City of Troy, for his Coolmore owners, trainer Aidan O’Brien and jockey Ryan Moore.
City of Troy ridden by Ryan Moore (Image: Mike Egerton) His victory at York was part of a notable season which included winning both the Betfred Derby and the Coral Eclipse at Sandown Racecourse. City Of Troy was followed home by the French trained Royal Ascot victor, Calandagan, with Ghostwriter and Bluestocking completing that top notch quartet. The latter finished her season winning the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, a race that itself has topped this global ranking several times.
The Longines sponsored designation for the richest race ever staged on the Knavesmire confirms its international reputation, a status that was further underlined by the presence of a Group 1 winning Japanese thoroughbred, Durezza, who went on from fifth at York to finish joint second in the prestigious Japan Cup.
Additionally, City of Troy was also crowned the joint Longines World’s Best Racehorse of 2024 during the Longines World Racing Awards alongside Laurel River, the UAE based star of the Juddmonte operation who impressed by winning the Dubai World Cup.
This latest accolade rounds off a fabulous season at York, where record prize money attracted a record number of runners leading to the highest average field size of any racecourse in Britain. It completes a successful awards season for the team at York, having recently been crowned Champion Racecourse of the Year at the RCA Showcase event, with further recognition being given to the new Bustardthorpe Development, which was opened by the Royal Patron of York Racecourse, The Queen, in August.
Queen Camilla at York Racecourse (Image: Dylan Connell) IFHA Chair Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges said: "The IFHA is dedicated to advancing and improving our sport globally in a wide range of areas. We also believe it is important to reward and celebrate the best of what racing has to offer, and the Longines World Racing Awards allow us to do that in a meaningful way. The 2024 running of the Juddmonte International at York showcased a powerful performance by City of Troy against a high-quality field. On behalf of the entire IFHA, I want to congratulate our very deserving winners.”
Douglas Erskine Crum, chief executive officer of long-time sponsors of the race, Juddmonte, said ““Juddmonte and Prince Khalid’s family are proud to have sponsored the Juddmonte International for the last 35 years and seen it attract many of the best middle-distance racehorses in the world in that time. Prizemoney for the race increased again last year to reflect its prominent status in global horseracing, and our congratulations go to the excellent team at York Racecourse led by William Derby, who have nurtured the race to be consistently at the top of world racing.”
Aidan O’Brien, who is the leading trainer in the Juddmonte International with seven wins including that of City of Troy, said: “We were thrilled with City Of Troy’s victory in the Juddmonte International at the Sky Bet Ebor Festival at York, beating an international field in a record time with a pillar to post win under Ryan Moore. The Juddmonte International is a tremendous race of global importance to thoroughbred racing and we are delighted to see it rated the Longines World’s Best Race 2024.”
Director of International Racing and Racing Development at the British Horseracing Authority, Ruth Quinn, said: “The Juddmonte International has been recognised as the best race in the world for 2024 and it was certainly a spectacular race, deep in both quality and quantity and a thrilling sporting event. I am delighted for York and, of course, for British Racing, that once again this race has put up a world class performance, with obviously a top class winner in City of Troy, and has received the lofty title that it very much deserves. Congratulations to York racecourse, to Juddmonte and to all the connections.”
