The rise of Lankan Rupee has continued overnight with the four-year-old strengthening his claim as the world’s highest rated sprinter following the latest release of the Longines World’s Best Racehorse Rankings.

The Mick Price-trained four-year-old improved his previous career-high rating of 121 to 123, on the back of his stunning two-length win in the $2.5 million Group 1 T.J. Smith Stakes (1200m) in Sydney last month.

Racing Victoria General Manager –Racing and Australia’s representative on the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings panel, Greg Carpenter, said the rating means Black Caviar (132) and Hay List (125) were the only Australian-trained sprinters to achieve higher ratings in the past decade.

“It acknowledges the total dominance of his victory in the T.J. Smith which was the first time for the horse going right-handed and on rain-affected ground,” Carpenter said.

“He’s continued to progress from his wins in Melbourne in the Oakleigh Plate and Newmarket Handicap and although it’s a great acknowledgement of what he’s been able to achieve so far in 2014, I look forward to seeing if he can continue his progression in the rich sprint races during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival in Melbourne and hopefully then onto Hong Kong.

“All of his ratings have progressed during this campaign and if his performances can continue to trend upward in the Spring then he may be able to challenge the peak ratings of the likes of Hay List and Lord Kanaloa (128).

“The fact he was able to race just as effectively right-handed was also a significant positive should connections wish to aim the horse towards the Hong Kong International Sprint (1200m) in December.”

It’s A Dundeel also earned a career-high rating of 122 for his victory in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).

Runner-up in the Queen Elizabeth less than a length behind It’s A Dundeel was Doncater Mile (1600m) winner Sacred Falls, who also achieved a new peak rating of 120.

Other Australian horses to remain prominent in the rankings are Fiorente, Carlton House and Boban who had already achieved a rating of 118 prior to the updated release.

Key movers in the latest rankings include Variety Club, who is now the world’s second-highest rated galloper at 126 on the strength of his win in the Champions Mile in Hong Kong and California Chrome, who earned a rating of 124 with his win in the Kentucky Derby in the US. 

Click here to view the complete list of the World’s Best Racehorse Rankings