Juddmonte International named as Longines World’s Best Horserace in 2024

Posted by Admin January 21, 2025 Horse Racing

The Juddmonte International was the Longines World’s Best Horserace in 2024, taking the global top spot for the second time in the last five renewals.

The York showpiece was officially recognised as the Longines World’s Best Horserace during the prestigious Longines World Racing Awards, which was hosted by the global racing body, The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) at The Savoy.

The title honours the best rated race of the 100 highest-rated Group/Grade Ones 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.

In essence it reflects the combined high-quality of the first four horses home in the Juddmonte International, when it was run on Wednesday 21 August, 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. His victory at York was part of a notable season which included winning both the Betfred Derby and the Coral Eclipse. He 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.

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, Her Majesty The Queen, in August.

Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course William Derby said: “It is such an honour that our flagship race, the Group One 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.”

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.”