It is an assessment of racehorses which was issued by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA) in August 2005.
These countries are generally in the Southern Hemisphere, although some areas covered, such as Hong Kong and the United Arab Emirates, are actually north of the equator.
The highest rating in the 2004–05 season was 123, which was given to the performances of both Roses in May in the Dubai World Cup and Silent Witness in the Hong Kong Sprint.
They also show the top performers in various subdivisions of each group, which are defined by the distances of races, and the surfaces on which they are run.
The IFHA recognizes five distance categories — Sprint, Mile, Intermediate, Long and Extended — identified by the acronym "SMILE".