Australia’s representative on the International Panel of Handicappers, Greg Carpenter, believes Winx should be crowned the world’s best mare.
Carpenter, who is also Victoria’s chief handicapper, has given Winx a rating of 127 after her stunning Doncaster Mile victory.
“That’s an extraordinarily high figure for a mare,” Carpenter told Racing.com.
“When you think of the great mares of the last decade only horses like Black Caviar, Treve, Zenyatta, Rachel Alexander and Danedream have been able to run to figures of 127 and higher.”
The World’s Best Racehorse rankings will be revealed at the end of this week, but Carpenter is not sure if his international counterparts will agree with his assessment.
“It looks as though she may not be quite as high as that for some of the other international handicappers,” Carpenter said.
“I’m still pretty confident she’ll be at the top of the list of what we’ve seen in world racing in 2016.”
Carpenter said placegetters Happy Clapper and Azkadellia franked the Doncaster form by running second in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes and winning the Queen of the Turf Stakes respectively.
Carpenter has given Queen Elizabeth winner Lucia Valentina a career-high rating of 115-plus, while star sprinter Chautauqua has been rated as 121-plus following his TJ Smith Stakes triumph.
Chautauqua and fellow Australian sprint star Buffering will face off in the Chairman’s Sprint Prize in Hong Kong on May 1.
“Buffering won the Al Quoz Sprint during the Dubai World Cup carnival and for me ran to a career best figure of at least 118,” he said.
Carpenter said the presence of Hong Kong sprinter Aerovelocity and Japanese speedster Big Arthur in Hong Kong would make for an interesting contest.
“If those horses go there and Chautauqua can beat them I have no doubt he will confirm his current position as the highest rated sprinter in the world,” Carpenter said.
