The 2008 World Thoroughbred Rankings was the 2008 edition of the

World Thoroughbred Rankings The Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings (LWBRR), known as World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) before 2012, are horseracing's equivalent to World Rankings by other major sporting organizations such as ATP Tennis Rankings, World Golf R ...

. It was an assessment of

Thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

racehorses Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic pr ...

issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in January 2009. It included horses aged three or older which competed in flat races anywhere in the world during 2008. It was the first edition to be open to all horses irrespective of where they raced or were trained. In previous years the IFHA had published two separate listings – a "Northern Hemisphere" edition in January, and a "Southern Hemisphere" version in August. This year's joint-highest ratings were awarded to Curlin for his performances in both the Dubai World Cup and the Stephen Foster Handicap, and to New Approach for his win in the

Champion Stakes The Champion Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It is run at Ascot over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlong ...

. Each was given a rating of 130. A total of 288 horses were included in the list.

Full rankings for 2008

* ''For a detailed guide to this table, see below.''

Top ranked horses

The following table shows the top ranked horses overall, the top three-year-olds, the top older horses and the top fillies and mares in the 2008 Rankings. It also shows the leading performers in various subdivisions of each group, which are defined by the distances of races, and the surfaces on which they are run.

Guide

A complete guide to the main table above.

References

{{WTRR World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings World Thoroughbred Rankings 2008