Following his brave nose victory in the May 4 Kentucky Derby (G1) at Churchill Downs, Mystik Dan is now ranked among the leaders in the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings.
His rating of 120 propels him into a tie for sixth place with nine other horses, among them Fierceness, the blowout Florida Derby (G1) winner who maintained a high rating after finishing 15th in the Derby. They are the top-rated 3-year-old dirt horses in the world, just ahead of Derby runner-up Sierra Leone and third-place Forever Young, rated at 119.
Mystik Dan, a son of Goldencents trained by Kenny McPeek for owners Lance Gasaway, 4 G Racing, Daniel Hamby III, and Valley View Farm, and Repole Stable's Fierceness, trained by Todd Pletcher, are a point behind a turf 3-year-old, the undefeated Notable Speech, who surged into a tie for third with a 121 rating after his 1 1/2-length victory in the 2000 Guineas Stakes (G1T).
The latter races for Godolphin and trainer Charlie Appleby, the team behind the rising Master of the Seas, who took the Maker's Mark Mile Stakes (G1T) last month at Keeneland and now is rated at 120, placing him in the aforementioned sixth-place logjam.
Godolphin and Appleby also campaign Rebel's Romance, the second-rated horse in the rankings with a 123 rating and the top-rated turf horse in the world.
Juddmonte's runaway Dubai World Cup (G1) winner, Laurel River, is far on top with a 128 rating.
