Hong Kong’s Horse of the Year Beauty Generation emerges from the latest LONGINES World’s Best Racehorse Rankings as one of the top three milers on the planet and trainer John Moore believes his stable star could prove to be the outright best before the year is out.

“He’s like a bottle of the best red wine you could buy – he just gets better with age,” Moore said this morning (Friday, 12 October) as he looked forward to the six-year-old’s next race, the G2 Oriental Watch Sha Tin Trophy Handicap (1600m) a week on Sunday.

The triple G1 winner’s peak 123 rating ranks one point behind the brilliant, but recently-retired, Irish filly Alpha Centauri and is the equal of fellow active gallopers Benbatl and Happy Clapper, successful in the G1 Dubai Turf and G1 Doncaster Mile, respectively. The International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) released the latest rankings update on Thursday, 11 October.

“The form he’s in, next week I think he could well surpass the 123 mark and even put himself above 124,” Moore said.

The trainer spoke a little more than 24 hours after watching a thriving Beauty Generation gallop with stablemate Beauty Prince. The champ clocked 1m 20.5s for 1200m on the all-weather track, closing out in 23.5s under Zac Purton.

“The gallop yesterday was a beauty. He was raring and bucking afterwards so I’m looking for a very big run,” Moore revealed.

“He absolutely galloped the place down yesterday and that’s the first time I’ve really caught a big smile on Zac Purton’s face, he was thrilled with the horse’s work – he seems to have hit a purple patch.”

Beauty Generation’s international rating rose as a result of his impressive return to action at Sha Tin earlier this month. The Australian import hauled top-weight of 133lb to a smooth victory over high-class opponents in the G3 Celebration Cup Handicap on 1 October.

That performance was enough to push the Patrick Kwok-owned gelding to the fore of the world’s mile division and Moore is thrilled. The handler was responsible for Hong Kong’s all-time highest rated horse, Able Friend (peak rating 127), who topped the overall rankings for a time during 2015.

“It’s quite something,” he said. “It’s an honour not only for the owner and the stable, but also for Hong Kong. With our small horse population and no breeding industry, it’s impressive that we have again come up with a horse that can be equal to the best milers in the world.”

Australia’s super mare Winx tops this year’s overall rankings with two months of the year remaining. Her mark of 130 puts her one rating point ahead of US dirt star Gun Runner and European middle-distance high-weight Poet’s Word.

G1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe heroine Enable sits equal seventh after earning a rating of 125 for her recent second victory in Europe’s premier mile and a half contest.