Horsham-linked Nature Strip rated world's best sprinter; third overall

The five-year-old was rated the world's best sprinter and the third-best racehorse in the world in the newly released Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings.

It was the only Australian racehorse to feature in the top 10.

The star is part-owned by Horsham's Craig Garland, Geoffrey Dumesny, Craig Bennett, Frank Giampaolo, and the late David McCluskey.

Mr Garland said the syndicate was still in disbelief about Nature Strip's success.

"It's absolute madness, to be honest with you. Just quite unbelievable," he said.

"Frank Giampolo rang me about it and we were saying, 'If you had of said to me three years ago we'd be part owner of a horse that is third in the world, you'd nearly knock them out.'

"It's hard to believe."

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Nature Strip has won four Group One races across its career so far, earning more than $5 million in prizemoney.

It is currently trained by Chris Waller, who formerly trained Winx.

As the spring draws closer, Mr Garland said it was shaping up to be a big second-half of the year for Nature Strip.

He said the world's richest horserace, The Everest, was one of their top priorities.

Nature Strip finished fourth and pocketed a cool $900,000 of prizemoney in the $14 million race last year.

"It's a pretty big year for him coming up," Mr Garland said.

"All is going well at the moment - we are just hoping this virus doesn't shut everything down.

"Hopefully we will be allowed back into New South Wales by the time The Everest comes around."

Mr Garland said he was pleased the racing industry had thus far been able to avoid the widespread cancellations other sports have faced due to COVID-19.

A Royal Ascot campaign in England was put on hold for Nature Strip due to border restrictions, but the star gelding has otherwise been largely unaffected by the pandemic.

"It's amazing that the racing industry has done such an incredible job, and fingers crossed it can keep going," Mr Garland said.

"It gives you something to watch and something to look forward to, which is really what people need at the moment."

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