page_title: List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses
section_title: Most group / grade one (G1) wins
hierarchical_section_title: List of leading Thoroughbred racehorses / Most group / grade one (G1) wins
caption_attribution_description: Hurricane fly, and his 2 handlers pre race in November 2012 at Punchestown.
context_page_description: The list of leading Thoroughbred racehorses contains the names of undefeated racehorses and other horses that had an outstanding race record in specific categories. Note though that many champions do not appear on the list as an unexpected defeat may be caused by many factors such as injury, illness, going, racing tactics and differences in weight carried, the latter being particularly significant in North America and Australia where handicaps are common even at the highest level of racing.
  It is common to compare racehorses on multiple factors such as their overall race record, the quality of the horses they beat and the brilliance of their wins. Comparison of raw times is generally unreliable between horses of different eras or even over different racecourses due to a variety of factors such as the racing surface and the pace at which the race is run. Timeform ratings, introduced in 1948, and Beyer Speed Figures, introduced in the United States in 1992, are relatively recent attempts to compensate for such variables.
context_section_description: To identify the highest quality races, the pattern race system was introduced in Europe in 1971, followed by the graded stakes system in North America in 1974. Other countries followed suit, though the criteria and quality has not always been consistent between racing jurisdictions. The following list considers horses that won grade one / group one races that were open for International competition. Winners of local (restricted) group / grade one wins are not included.
  The horses with ten or more such G1 race wins are:
  25 – Winx (AUS)‡
  22 – Hurricane Fly (IRE)
  16 – John Henry (USA), Kauto Star (FR)
  15 – Black Caviar (AUS)‡
  14 – Affirmed (USA), Forego (USA), Goldikova (IRE)‡, Kingston Town (AUS), Istabraq (IRE)
  13 – Bayakoa (ARG)‡, Moscow Flyer (IRE), Spectacular Bid (USA), Sunline (NZ)‡, Tie the Knot (AUS), Zenyatta (USA)‡
  11 – Apple's Jade (FRA)‡, Beholder (USA)‡, Cigar (USA), Enable‡ (GB), Lady's Secret (USA)‡, Lonhro (AUS), Manikato(AUS), McDynamo (USA), Rough Habit (NZ), Serena's Song‡ (USA), Wise Dan (USA), Azeri (USA)‡
  10 – Altior (IRE), Beef or Salmon (IRE), Big Buck's (FRA), Brave Inca (IRE), Dahlia (USA)‡, Faugheen (IRE), Frankel (GB), Miesque (USA)‡, Paseana (ARG)‡, Octagonal (NZ), Mufhasa (NZ), Skip Away (USA), So You Think (NZ), Melody Belle (NZ)‡
  ‡ Mare
  In 1902 Sceptre became the only racehorse to win four British Classic Races outright. Previously, in 1868, Formosa won the same four races but dead-heated in the 2,000 Guineas Stakes.
caption: Hurricane Fly being walked by his handlers before a race
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