Longines World Racing Awards 2020

This Tuesday, horseracing fans from all over the world were invited to attend the 2020 Longines World Racing Awards ceremony, held for the first time entirely online. Co-organized by Swiss watch brand Longines and the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), this eighth edition honoured the top Thoroughbred racehorses, horse race and jockey of the previous year.

Hosted by presenter Francesca Cumani at the National Horse Racing Museum in Newmarket, England, the ceremony awarded the title of 2020 Longines World’s Best Racehorse to Ghaiyyath (IRE), while Authentic (USA) was second.

Ghaiyyath earned his rating of 130 in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1), which is also the 2020 Longines World’s Best Horse Race. The Irish horse started his season in Dubai, taking the Dubai Millennium Stakes Sponsored by Jaguar (G3) at Meydan. The then 5-year-old completed the 2000 metres contest in 2:00:33, setting a new track record in the process. Following his victory in Dubai, the champion returned to Europe to win the Hurworth Bloodstock Coronation Cup Stakes (G1) in his next start and defeated 2019 co-Longines World’s Best Racehorse Enable in the Coral-Eclipse (G1).

The second highest rated horse in the world in 2020, Authentic, earned his rating in the Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), where he set a track record by completing the 1 ¼-mile race in 1:59.60. Authentic’s rating makes him the highest rated dirt horse in the world for 2020 as well as the highest rated 3-year-old. The American horse was also the first one since 2015 Longines World’s Best Racehorse American Pharoah to win the Kentucky Derby and Classic in the same year.

The Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings are established by international handicappers according to the performance of the horses in top races. In the previous edition, Crystal Ocean (GB), Enable (GB) and Waldgeist (FR) were celebrated as the joint winners of the 2019 Longines World’s Best Racehorse title.

The 2020 Longines World Racing Awards also celebrated Frankie Dettori as the Longines World’s Best Jockey of the year. Dettori is the only four-time winner of the title, which was established in 2014, and he has now won it three consecutive times. The awarding of the Longines World’s Best Jockey title is based upon performances in the 100 highest-rated Group 1 and Grade 1 races as established for the year by the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings Committee.

Additionally, Longines and the IFHA were delighted to celebrate the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1), held at York Racecourse in England, as the 2020 Longines World’s Best Horse Race with a rating of 125.25. The Longines World’s Best Horse Race Award recognizes the best-rated race of the highest-rated Group 1 international races as established by a panel of international handicappers. The ratings of the top four finishers in each race serve as basis for the assessment. This is the first time an English race has won the title. France’s Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1) won the award in 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019, while America’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) won in 2016.

Longines and Equestrian Sports

Longines’ passion for the equestrian world dates back to 1869, when the brand produced its first equestrian pocket watch, displaying a proud horse head. A few years later, in 1878, Longines developed a chronograph movement, fitted in a case engraved with a jockey and his mount. Seen on the racetracks as early as 1881, this type of timepieces proved extremely popular among jockeys and horse-lovers, as it enabled its user to time performances to the second. Today, Longines’ involvement in equestrian sports includes flat racing as well as show-jumping, dressage, driving and eventing competitions. Longines chose to support equestrian sports as a perfect illustration of its core values: Tradition, Elegance and Performance. In collaborating with major equestrian organizations such as the IFHA, the FEI and the FEGENTRI, the brand is committed to develop the sport worldwide in a sustainable and respectful way.