The world’s best three year old is…not Big Brown (gasp!) The latest World Thoroughbred Rankings have placed Australia’s Weekend Hussler at the top of his age group; his 122 point ranking (tying for 8th in the world overall) equals that of Hard Spun and world-beaters like Ramonta and Viva Pataca.
Naturally, you are now wondering how the committee might have overlooked War Pass and the aforementioned Big Brown; well, here’s how — they didn’t win 5 G1 races over the past six months (nor do they have 8 wins out of 10 lifetime starts like the Antipodean sprinter). Indeed, Weekend Hussler is the only three-year-old who makes the list.
All told, US-based horses have a good showing in the rankings– obviously Curlin is well clear of the rest of the pack with a top rating of 130; the next installment should include Triple Crown results, so some of our local three-year-olds should make the list too. In case you were wondering, Curlin’s 130 equals Ghostzapper’s top ranking — which suggests that Curlin’s could be even higher by the end of the year. One wonders where Hard Spun might have ranked had he continued racing…but I digress.
As for Weekend Hussler, he’s aiming for another G1 win by the end of his season. Good luck to his connections!
Big Brown is impressive, but I think before the Derby, we will find something even better