Racing’s 2024 highs and lows

As always, racing enjoyed some spectacular highs and also sadly had to endure some awful lows over the past year. Here, we look at the best and worst memories of 2024.

Highs

McManus remains National treasure

No one has put more into National Hunt racing in Britain and Ireland than JP McManus, who supports so many people across all levels of the industry. Any rewards he receives in return are always hugely popular and the Grand National triumph of I Am Maximus was another day to remember at Aintree. The green and gold colours fairly flew home after the final fence to give McManus a third win in the Liverpool spectacular and he lifted the trophy flanked by his grandchildren. He said: “I love everything about the race. I love Liverpool, the excitement of coming here, the build-up to the National, it’s just a very, very special place. When you win it’s a wonderful spectacle.”

Gold Cup glory for Galopin Des Champs – again

It was another fantastic Cheltenham Festival for the all-conquering Willie Mullins, with State Man’s Champion Hurdle success backed up by big-race wins for the likes of Gaelic Warrior, Lossiemouth, Ballyburn, Fact To File, Majborough, Jasmin De Vaux and Absurde. However, Galopin Des Champs stood out for his flawless jumping late on in the Gold Cup. With Gerri Colombe pressing, Paul Townend asked his mount for two big leaps in the home straight and the defending champion responded superbly, before staying on strongly up the hill.

Franny Norton’s glorious swansong

Everybody likes to see a veteran jockey bow out on a high note and Franny Norton certainly had a fairytale finish at his beloved Chester, riding a Roodee treble on his last day in the saddle. The 54-year-old Liverpool-born pilot was afforded a guard of honour before his penultimate ride on Small Fry proved successful and then Qitaal coasted home a wide-margin winner in the closing contest after a thunderstorm threatened to derail that race. “It was like God was crying because I’m retiring,” joked Norton.

Kia Joorabchian filling up arsenal with new Amo

The businessman and influential football figure might not be everybody’s cup of tea and has been involved in some acrimonious break-ups with his jockeys and trainers, but racing needs colourful characters that can transcend the sport and Joorabchian certainly made a splash at the sales. A 4.4million guineas daughter of Frankel and a 4.3m son of Wootton Bassett featured among Amo Racing’s huge spending spree at the Tattersalls Book One sale. Irish Oaks heroine You Got To Me was then acquired for 4.8m and Joorabchian said: “We are trying to do the right thing. We have to compete, and we have been trying to compete for many years and have probably burnt so much cash by trying to do it.” The likes of Coolmore, Godolphin and Juddmonte have dominated at elite level, but this is an ambitious bid to join that bracket.

City Of Troy Derby redemption

Following a superb juvenile campaign, Aidan O’Brien’s much-hyped star flopped in the 2000 Guineas but redeemed himself in emphatic fashion with a Derby demolition job. Ambiente Friendly appeared to be cruising three furlongs out but City Of Troy came storming through under Ryan Moore to ultimately power clear. Coolmore partner Michael Tabor declared: “Aidan said this is the best we’ve ever had and everything has come true.”

Lows

City Of Troy Breeders’ Cup Classic KO

Wins in Sandown’s Eclipse and the Juddmonte International at York followed his Epsom success and set the stage for an assault on the Breeders’ Cup Classic. O’Brien had come close to capturing this prize before and was convinced that, as a son of American Triple Crown hero Justify, City Of Troy could give him an elusive first victory. However, he started slowly and was never a factor, with Moore admitting: “They went so hard and he just couldn’t get going.”

Henderson’s Cheltenham Festival woes

With Constitution Hill ruled out of a Champion Hurdle defence the week before the fixture due to a respiratory infection, Nicky Henderson’s Cheltenham Festival got off to an inauspicious start with five of his six runners pulled up on Tuesday. That prompted the Seven Barrows trainer to rule out a string of leading contenders and, although a handful of his remaining entries did perform with credit, a series of unsatisfactory scopes left the trainer crestfallen and admitting: “You were just getting scared to run.”

Racing mourns death of ‘much loved’ Cherchi

The death of young jockey Stefano Cherchi as a result of injuries sustained in a fall in Australia left many shellshocked all across the racing world, having ridden over 100 winners in Britain before moving Down Under. The 23-year-old rider partnered 38 winners for fellow Italian Marco Botti while in the UK and the Newmarket handler was among those hugely saddened by the tragedy. The trainer said: “His charm and his way of behaving with people, he was such a nice guy. For me, he was a little bit like a son to be honest.” The Professional Jockeys Association added: “As well as being a gifted rider, Stefano was immensely popular in the weighing room due to his humility, kindness and sense of humour. He was very much loved and will be missed even more.”

Shark bite leaves an unsavoury taste

Opinions vary over how serious an offence Shark Hanlon committed in the removal of a dead horse from his yard earlier this year, but even the most sympathetic observer would describe it as a poor error of judgement. The horse was carried on an open trailer which was towed by Hanlon’s branded horsebox, with the body left visible after a tarpaulin became displaced during the journey. A member of the public videoed the incident and it was widely circulated on social media. A subsequent suspension was reduced from 10 months to six on appeal, with the possibility it could be further cut to three months. Having enjoyed a fairytale run with the Cinderella story of Hewick, topped by his win in last’s King George at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, Hanlon’s festive period will be very different this year.

A final word for absent friends

All equine deaths are upsetting, but some obviously hit that little bit harder. When Hidden Law broke down and was fatally injured almost immediately after the winning line at Chester, he had just given Godolphin dreams of Derby glory with an authoritative Chester Vase victory. At Cheltenham’s November meeting, Abuffalosoldier was a courageous winner over just short of three and a half miles but collapsed on the course following an ITV interview with his jockey Sean Bowen. Away from the track, Shishkin’s death due to an injury suffered at Seven Barrows left Henderson “devastated that such a great horse, friend and warrior has gone”. All of the fallen soldiers have our utmost sympathy.