Great Britain has once again come out on top in the equestrian world. Following a successful performance by the Olympic equestrian Team GB, a British horse has been ranked the best in the world in a recent listing and another has been named as joint fourth.

Across the three equestrian sports of dressage, eventing and showjumping, Team GB collected a number of medals during London 2012 and no doubt inspired a future generation of horse riding enthusiasts. And now the recent edition of World Thoroughbred Rankings has rated the British bay Frankel as the top racehorse globally.

Frankel

This British thoroughbred racehorse remains unbeaten and has been the highest ranked horse in the world since May 2011. Frankel improved his unbeaten record in 2012 by winning the Lockinge Stakes, the Queen Anne Stakes and the Sussex Stakes for a second time. A bay horse with four white feet, and named after the famous and late American trainer Bobby Frankel, Frankel is bred by Juddmonte Farms, trained by Sir Henry Cecil and owned by Prince Khalid Abdulla. British bloodstock agency McKeever Bloodstock has estimated Frankel is worth £100 million – and suggested this valuation may be “conservative”.

Black Caviar

This Australian thoroughbred horse is the most famous race horse in her homeland since Phar Lap in the 1930s, thanks to being undefeated in 22 races – a record unequaled in more than 150 years. This big, dark brown mare stands tall at 16.2 hands high and is thought to be the best sprinter in the world. Black Caviar was crowned the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR) World Champion Sprinter in 2010. Her fastest 200m time is 9.98 seconds, equivalent to 44.83mph.

Cirrus Des Aigles

Having raced in France, the UK, Hong Kong, Japan and the United Arab Emirates, French thoroughbred racehorse Cirrus Des Aigles is now considered to be one of the best in the world. This bay gelding only received acclaim later on in life, becoming a top race horse at the age of five in 2011 and scooping the title of European Champion Older Horse at the Cartier Racing Awards in the same year.

I’ll Have Another

Sharing the number 4 spot with Monterosso, I’ll Have Another is a North American race horse who retired early at the age of three due to suffering a tendon injury on the eve of the Belmont Stakes in which he was hoping to scoop the Triple Crown. This chestnut horse was sold in June 2012 for $10 million to stand at stud at the Big Red Farm in Hokkaido, Japan for the 2013 breeding season.

Monterosso

The second British thoroughbred racehorse to make it into the top 5, Monterosso shares joint fourth position with I’ll Have Another and is a British-bred and trained bay horse. Later in life, he moved to the United Arab Emirates where he won the Dubai World Cup in March 2012. The five year old race horse entered this race, the world’s richest horse race, at 20-1 odds to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup.

Ashurst Farm is a supplier of horse products such as horse bedding