Frankel was finally granted the ultimate position in the recent history of Flat racing as the World Thoroughbred Rankings announced him as the highest-rated horse since the system began in 1977 with a mark of 140.

While now widely acknowledged as the greatest of all time, Sir Henry Cecil's colt would not have beaten the previous marker had Dancing Brave's 141 in 1986 not been reduced to 138 as a result of the revision of marks given in the earlier rankings.

The handicappers who comprise the ranking committee have long voiced their concern that methods have evolved over the last 35 years, and that some horses ended up with figures which are slightly too high. These were applied to a statistical method devised by BHA chief handicapper Phil Smith.

Cirrus Des Aigles, the French star Frankel beat hands-down in the Qipco Champion Stakes, was rated second-best of 2012 on 131. Third on 130 was the Australian folk heroine Black Caviar, as well as Excelebration, beaten many times by Frankel but who emerged as a Group One winner himself.

Frankel commences his stud career on a position 2lb clear of Dancing Brave, who was also owned by Prince Khalid Abdullah, with Peintre Celebre third in the all-time list on 137, then Generous, Sea The Stars and Shergar on 136. The latter was dropped as much as 4lb.

Abdullah's racing manager Teddy Grimthorpe said: "Prince Khalid is going to be very happy to have the two best horses of recent history. I have no doubt Frankel proved it (his greatness) again and again. He has set new standards by which others will be judged. He is going to start covering mares next month."

Members of the BHA team outlined their pronouncements along with the senior Irish handicapper Garry O'Gorman, who said: "What can be said about Frankel that has not been said already? He is the first horse since 1977 to be champion at two, three and four. Six times he ran at a rating higher than 135.

"I think you have to go back to the days of Mill Reef and Brigadier Gerard to find a horse with a comparable profile, so he is the new benchmark for equine excellence."

As the rankings were unveiled, members of the committee had to answer accusations of rewriting history in order to prove Frankel was the best. Smith said: "We started thinking about it four years ago with Sea The Stars. We've talked about it, and we grasped the nettle. We should have done it years ago."

Dancing Brave's trainer Guy Harwood told Sky Sports News Radio: "It sounds to be an extraordinary thing to do, to downgrade a horse. I don't know you can do that, having used experts to give you an opinion. At the end of the day, trying to compare one great horse to another is not a clever thing to do. I think it's absurd."