Timeform Global Rankings 2014: Kingman reigns supreme

Top of the pile on a rating of 134 is the John Gosden-trained Kingman, who took the mile division by storm in the season just gone, when landing five of his six outings. He proved himself the best of the three-mile-year old milers when gaining revenge on his 2000 Guineas conqueror Night of Thunder (127) in the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot—a race in which he clocked an exceptional sectional time for the final two furlongs—prior to beating some of the top older horses in the Sussex Stakes and Jacques le Marois.

It’s a shame Kingman won’t return to the track as a four-year-old but a rating of 134, 1 lb in advance of such as Rock of Gibraltar, Canford Cliffs and Excelebration, marks him down as one of the best milers of the modern era, Frankel aside.

Another three-year-old to distinguish himself on the domestic scene in 2014 was Derby winner Australia. The Epsom success and his subsequent defeat of The Grey Gatsby (128) in the Juddmonte International has led to Aidan O’Brien’s colt receiving a rating of 132, which puts him joint-second on our Global list alongside Australian sprinter Lankan Rupee, who landed four Group 1s in 2014, and Japan Cup winner Epiphaneia, who beat a strong field by four lengths in the Tokyo showpiece in late-November. Runner-up in the last-named race was Just A Way (131), and he’s another trained in Japan who ranks highly on our global list following his runaway success in the Dubai Duty Free at Meydan earlier in the year.

Other notable European-trained three-year-olds worth mentioning are Oaks and King George winner Taghrooda (127), Australia’s stablemate Adelaide (128), who rounded off his season with a success in the Cox Plate, Australia’s most prestigious weight-for-age race, and the exciting Free Eagle (128p). The last-named managed only third behind Noble Mission and Al Kazeem (both 128) in the Champion Stakes on the back of a seven-length success in a Group 3 on his belated reappearance, but that was a good effort at Ascot for one so inexperienced and he looks likely to win some top races as a four-year-old.

The European-trained older horses weren’t a vintage bunch in 2014 in truth. Lockinge and Prix de la Foret winner Olympic Glory (130) was the highest rated, closely followed by Treve (129), who didn’t quite reach the heights she had in the previous season in ratings terms but nevertheless provided one of the moments of the year when gaining her second Arc success at Longchamp.  Germany’s Protectionist also deserves a mention having recorded a figure of 128 when landing the Melbourne Cup, which was more than enough to make him the year’s top-rated stayer.

2014 was a notable season for Irish trainer Edward Lynam. He has a string of only around fifty horses but they included the top two sprinters trained in Europe in the latest season, Sole Power (128) and Slade Power (127), who between them landed four Group 1 events.

Horses trained in the US are again well represented in the list of the leading juveniles, filling the first three places, and top of the pile on a rating of 126 is American Pharoah. Trained by Bob Baffert, American Pharoah managed only fifth on his debut but landed Grade 1 events on his two subsequent starts, namely the Del Mar Futurity and the FrontRunner Stakes at Santa Anita, beating Calculator (118) both times. He was strong at the finish over an extended mile in the latter which augurs well for his Kentucky Derby prospects.

Closer to home, the top-rated juveniles in Britain were Tiggy Wiggy (121) and Limato (121p). The former had a stellar campaign which included a runaway success in the Super Sprint at Newbury followed by wins in the Lowther and Cheveley Park. Limato, on the other hand, has yet to race in pattern company, but the form he showed in winning listed races at Newbury and Redcar (the valuable Two-Year-Old Trophy, when very impressive) suggests he was one of the season’s best two-year-olds. He looks a fine sprinting prospect for 2015, with the new six-furlong Group 1 for three-year-olds at Royal Ascot likely to be high on his agenda.

Click here to see the full list of Timeform's Global Rankings for 2014.