Cracksman better than Winx? You're joking - Aussies hit back as row rumbles on

Following the sometimes heated debate across both hemispheres about the relative merits of Cracksman and Winx, who jointly topped the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings last week, Australian journalist Steve Moran of ANZ Bloodstock News delivers a firm rebuttal to those who believe the star British performer is on a par with the super mare from down under

The Cracksman versus Winx debate has raged for some time and especially since the so-called official world rankings were released last week, which had the two rated equal on a mark of 130.

The Racing Post and Timeform have Cracksman rated clearly higher, which I find a little absurd and disturbing. What’s this love for the wet-track bully Cracksman all about?

I suspect the Racing Post’s Sam Walker must have drowned his sorrows – in the company of Matt Chapman who’s since described Winx as a "pensioner" – at his perceived shabby treatment of the Brits on the night of the release (January 23) before penning his assessment the following day.

Either that, Sam, or you were just taking the you-know-what. That’s fine. I don’t mind that. I'm about to do a bit of my own.

However, your article might very nearly have lost all credibility with the opening sentence. "The World Rankings committee went big on Australia this year. They did the same with Japan in 2014, when two horses you've never heard of (Just A Way and Epiphaneia) topped the list," he wrote.

Epiphaneia: won the 2014 Japan CupCredit: Michele MacDonald

Now Sam, that’s just plain silly and very much smacks of something Chapman would say or write.

You know, as the whole world did, who those Japanese horses were. They were one-two in the 2014 Japan Cup, with Just A Way also winning a Group 1 in Meydan by six and a quarter lengths.

You then refer to the annus mirabilis for British trainers. Most of which, I’d note, came with Godolphin-owned horses or those from your other international owners (with the exception of Karl Burke’s eight Group wins in France and Ireland).

And do you really want to hang your hat on wins in Canada? Still, what you wrote about the success of British trainers is all true and fine, but I'm not sure what it has to do with comparing Winx and Cracksman. You are certainly younger than me – and probably smarter – but I couldn’t quite grasp the logic.

You vigorously defend the Racing Post Ratings which is fine, but they are just another set of opinions and therefore not infallible.

You should, instead, have tuned in to the perspicacious Lee Mottershead on your own website. Mottershead describes Cracksman as a "one trick pony" whose form was "very dubious".

Cracksman: beat Wren's Day - just a maiden winner - in the Prix GanayCredit: Dan Abraham

Now we’re getting to the heart of the matter. Throughout his career, only one of Cracksman's Group 1s came on good ground. That was in a very suspect Prix Ganay, in which he beat Wren’s Day, the winner of just one race, a Saint-Cloud maiden.

Cracksman then scraped home by a head from perennial non-winner Salouen before being trounced by Poet’s Word in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes, his only other run on good ground in 2018.

He then somehow rocketed in RPRs after an easy, wet-track romp in a modest end-of-season Group 1 at Ascot, in which he beat Crystal Ocean, who is not a Group 1 winner, and Subway Dancer. Now there’s a horse nobody knows, Sam. That esteemed Group 3 winner at Lyon-Parilly back in October 2016.

Cracksman won three races over 1m2½f to 1m4f in the calendar year; with his two legitimate Group 1s coming on soft ground. Winx won seven races from 7f to 1m2f, all at Group 1 level on wet and dry tracks, both left and right-handed.

“There is no evidence she’s a lesser racehorse this year,” Mottershead said of Winx. However, in the official rankings she’s down from 132 to 130, despite those seven wins that stretched her unbeaten record to 29.

Benbatl (near side) can be used to compare Cracksman and WinxCredit: Racing Photos

The form lines around the two horses are a little tenuous, but by the measure provided through Avilius and Poet’s Word (via Benbatl), no sane punter would back Cracksman to beat Winx on good ground at 1m2f. It’s as simple as that.

I would concede that Winx didn’t beat a champion horse in 2018, but nor did Cracksman. Those she did beat were generally better than many in other parts of the world might think. That’s largely built on a cultural divide which centres on our love of a Group 1 handicap.

Last year, Winx beat Happy Clapper in the George Ryder Stakes and that horse then conceded weight to all but Humidor when he won the Doncaster Handicap on his next start. Happy Clapper has won three Group 1 races and he’d have won another three if it wasn't for Winx. I’d have been happy to take any price about him winning the 2018 Queen Anne Stakes.

Alas, it is not as easy as when we had Black Caviar and Frankel. They were easily measured by the vanquished. Their 'bunnies' Excelebration and Hay List would have been hailed as champions in their absence. Excelebration won eight of his 15 starts, it would have been 12 from 15 without Frankel. Similarly, Hay List’s career record would have been 19 from 25 if Black Caviar hadn’t been around.

A similar debate occurred when Black Caviar (pictured) and Frankel were racingCredit: Edward Whitaker

Nevertheless, this does not diminish Winx in any way. She has them covered for longevity and probably for attitude. She somehow gets the job done, often against all odds, while Frankel and Black Caviar’s physical superiority saw them rarely in trouble.

Winx is a champion and superior to Cracksman. She will be remembered around the globe long after he’s forgotten.

The people have spoken. Winx was the winner of the 2018 Secretariat Vox Populi Award – the top choice among USA voters as well as international fans representing a record 60 countries. Cracksman wasn’t even nominated.

American journalist Steve Haskin wrote of the award: "The thought of a seven-year-old Australian mare being more popular with American racing fans than the undefeated Triple Crown winner boggles the mind, and made the Vox Populi Award truly a global award."

Only six per cent of the votes came from Australia while 80 per cent came from from the United States and yet Winx trumped the Triple Crown winner Justify in the popularity stakes.

If there is a serious note to this, then it is if the racing industry at large cannot agree as to who is the best horse then perhaps we should focus on coming up with a more accurate and inclusive ratings formula – which may include several bodies like the Racing Post and Timeform. I’d just want a panel of fair dinkum punters included – those whose opinions are validated, or not, by parting with their cash.

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