Timeform Highlights of 2017

Dan Barber – Altior (numerous)

Not so much a highlight as a continuing theme. To describe Altior's roar, the 'Alti-roar', as it never has been known and never will be known, is to describe a consistently phenomenal finishing effort from a consistently phenomenal horse.

It first reared its head in a Kempton novice hurdle, and Altior's surge into a clear lead in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle that same season gave weight to the idea that this trait was something out of the ordinary.

With attentions turned to chasing during the latest campaign, most understandably wanted to see how he jumped, but those who'd already glimpsed the 'Alti-roar' were instead eager to see whether the asset that set him apart from other horses was still intact.

For an answer, ask how Fox Norton felt when brushed aside in the Game Spirit. Or Cloudy Dream as he was left for dead in the Arkle. And, while you're at it, take time to explain the error of their ways to those who felt Charbel, late faller in the latter race, had it in him to withstand the 'Alti-roar' as it hit full volume.

Luke Quinn – Might Bite, RSA Chase

If there’s one moment, or race, that will stick in the mind for many years to come then the 2017 renewal of the RSA Chase, and a performance from Might Bite that was at very least equal to that of previous winners (and future Gold Cup winners) Bobs’s Worth and Denman, will be it.

Having already preluded his brilliance in a Grade 1 at Kempton on Boxing Day - when falling with the race at his mercy - it was at Cheltenham that Might Bite confirmed himself the most exciting novice chaser in training. Galloping his rivals into submission, Might Bite left the remnants of a good field spread out all across Prestbury Park. Seemingly well in control (10 lengths clear) when not fluent at the last, Might Bite’s temperament began to take a hold of his brilliance. A transformation akin to that of Doctor Bruce Banner to the Incredible Hulk emerged as Might Bite hung badly right onto the hurdles course and began pulling himself up on the run-in. Strong persuasion from his rider Nico de Boinville seemed to have no effect and it was only once the riderless Marinero and stablemate Whisper had gone by that Might Bite picked up once more, rallying bravely at this point to get back up by a nose, snatching victory back from the jaws of defeat.

Horse racing, especially over jumps, has its fair share of thrills and spills, but this was a contest of sensational proportion, from start to finish.

Replay: Might Bite (@sevenbarrows) rallies to overhaul stablemate Whisper in an extraordinary finish to the RSA pic.twitter.com/T4WL1buROZ

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) March 15, 2017

Adam Houghton – Willie Mullins, Cheltenham Festival four-timer

The opening day of the Cheltenham Festival is comparable to Christmas Day for many racing enthusiasts, and the occasion has seen one man give so much that comparisons to good ol’ Saint Nick are inevitable. For six years Quevega’s predominantly red colours shone as bright as Rudolph’s nose, while the Comet that was Hurricane Fly, and the Dancer that is Douvan, have also rewarded those who believe with magic on the hallowed turf at Prestbury Park.

However, 2017 was the year that punters came downstairs to find the space beneath their Christmas tree bare. For the first time since 2008, Willie Mullins did not train a winner on the first day of the Festival and, with a 25/1 winner of the opening Supreme, it was the bookmakers who were whispering between themselves about Christmas miracles. Fast forward 24 hours and to Douvan’s 9/2-on defeat in the Champion Chase, and those whispers very quickly turned to shouts.

Mullins and the team from his Closutton workshop did not panic, though, and come the close of play on Thursday, the festivities had well and truly begun. Yorkhill, a gift whose flaws Mullins is yet to completely iron out, got the ball rolling in the JLT, before the tearaway that is Un de Sceaux, who carries a strict X-rated certificate, quickly doubled his trainer’s tally in the Ryanair.

The ill-fated Action Man that was Nichols Canyon (Stayers’ Hurdle) and Let’s Dance (Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle), the latest Barbie doll on the production line, also struck to make it a fantastic four-timer for Mullins and an inspired Ruby Walsh, the floodgates opening just two days later than planned.

The festive period may have been a disappointing one for Mullins but, such is the focus on Cheltenham these days, there is every chance that his best gifts are still waiting to be unwrapped…

John Ingles – Arrogate, Dubai World Cup

Poor Arrogate – if you can say that about a horse who’s just retired as the richest racehorse in history with earnings of more than $17m. This is a sympathy vote, as much as anything, though, for a horse who risks missing out, again, on America’s Horse of the Year title. Arrogate had already beaten California Chrome in the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Classic and it was almost as if he was proving a point to the Eclipse voters when beating California Chrome again in the first running of the Pegasus World Cup, the world’s richest race, in January – just a week after California Chrome had been named Horse of the Year for the second time.

Early-season performances tend to be overlooked or forgotten in end-of-year reviews, so this is also a reminder that Arrogate put up another outstanding performance – his fourth in a row - after the Pegasus, to win the Dubai World Cup in March. He had to do it the hard way, too, starting slowly and racing wide throughout but ultimately staying on strongly under just hands and heels for an impressive win under his fifty-one-year-old jockey Mike Smith.

Unfortunately for Arrogate’s Horse of the Year claims, his seasonal highlight was followed by three dull performances at Del Mar later in the year. He dead-heated for fifth in the latest Breeders’ Cup Classic behind Gun Runner, a rival who met with only one defeat all year. That was when finishing five lengths clear of the rest behind Arrogate in Dubai. They’re both top-class colts, but Arrogate just has the edge on Timeform ratings. We’ll see next month if the Eclipse voters agree or if Arrogate will go down as one of the best US horses never to be Horse of the Year. 

Nick Seddon – Harry Angel, Sandy Lane Stakes

We’ve been spoilt for choice with Harry Angel this season, so much so that even picking a highlight at Haydock Park proves tricky, as he produced two near-top-class efforts there alone – but his victory in the Sandy Lane Stakes in May just shades the vote.

His all the way win by four-and-a-half lengths felt like a marquee moment for Harry Angel. An announcement, having promised so much in his three starts prior to the run, that he was ready to take his seat at the top table, and he duly did so in the brashest of manners – breaking the track record with an eye-watering timefigure that proved to be a career best so far.

It was a run that convinced the Godolphin juggernaut to weigh-in, and two magnificent Group 1 wins followed; gaining revenge on Caravaggio by bursting his bubble in the July Cup at Newmarket, before returning to Haydock – his happiest hunting ground – and trouncing them in the Sprint Cup.

He may never have mastered the art of reproducing his best at Ascot, but in a vintage year for sprinting Harry Angel topped the division, and it all started in the Sandy Lane.

Harry Angel wins the Sandy Lane Stakes in impressive fashion at @HAYDOCKRACES pic.twitter.com/IqFm5PCl2m

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) May 27, 2017

Andrew Asquith – Big Orange, Ascot Gold Cup

There were better - and faster - horses at Royal Ascot in 2017, but you would be hard pressed to say there was a more heart-warming performance than the Michael Bell-trained Big Orange winning the Gold Cup. The much-loved six-year-old put up a majestic display to fight off the higher-powered but weaker-minded (on the day) Order of St George – who has since finished fourth in the Arc and reversed the form in the Long Distance Cup – and the contrast in tactics also added to the drama.

Big Orange has only one way of running – from the front – and his performance had his copyright all over it, dictating matters under a perfect ride from his jockey James Doyle, making his break entering the straight and showing all of his tenacity as he held off the late challenge of the odds-on favourite Order of St George to prevail by a nose in a bobbing finish. Indeed, the defending champ Order of St George was left with a lot of ground to make up entering the straight, and he did come with a sweeping run under Ryan Moore, looking a big threat, though ultimately found the all-too-tough Big Orange a hard nut to crack.

Racing fans up and down the country were in awe, underlining Big Orange’s popularity and there is no doubt that his success in the Gold Cup is the defining moment of his career to date.

Matt Gardner - Enable, King George

It’s not easy for three-year-old fillies, often being overlooked in favour of their male counterparts; it takes a really good one to hold their own against the colts, both three-year-old and older, let alone hand them a beating, as Enable did in the King George.

Enable arrived at Ascot firmly on the up, having easily dispatched her opposition in the Oaks at both Epsom and the Curragh. It was clear that she was a horse to take seriously, but testing her mettle in a field that contained the winners of the Eclipse, the Coronation Cup/Prince of Wales’ Stakes and the Hardwicke would take something more: top-class form and genuine star quality.

Enable put in a thrilling performance, expertly guided by the resurgent Frankie Dettori, with Ulysses, Idaho and Highland Reel, high-class operators in their own right, simply unable to live with her. Though Enable would go on to produce an even better performance on the figures in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe it was her Ascot demolition job that firmly placed her on the global stage.

Heading into 2018 Enable has the world at her feet, the highest-rated filly and, when factoring in her sex allowance, the highest rated horse in training in Europe. A clash with stablemate, and Champion Stakes hero, Cracksman will be something to savour.

Jamie Lynch – Cracksman, Great Voltigeur

Whether it’s a specific race or a specific month or a specific strategy, there’s usually a turning point in the career of the top horses, where raw potential becomes raw power. It happens rarely, but sometimes that talent transformation comes in the space of a furlong, or even half a furlong, as was the case with Cracksman in the Great Voltigeur Stakes at York.

Placed in The Derby and Irish equivalent, Cracksman had all the gear but little idea of how to successfully mix the cocktail of classy components inherited from his daddy, The Daddy, Frankel, doing too much too soon at Epsom and too little too late at the Curragh. Even for the first mile of the Voltigeur, Cracksman was still callow and shallow, playing his own notes, rather than feeling or following the music, leaving his conductor, Frankie Dettori, increasingly agitated and animated. But then, spur of the moment at the top of the York straight, in the 110 yards before the three-furlong pole, Cracksman clicked, and the lock clicked - almost audibly – to the floodgates of flair, suddenly surging from fifth to first in double-quick time, announcing his arrival.     

The straight on the Knavesmire was the road to Damascus for Cracksman, who soared subsequently, comfortable at Chantilly and awesome at Ascot, his six-length Blitzkrieg in the Champion Stakes as brilliant a performance as was produced by any horse in the world in 2017, according to Timeform ratings.

Racing is a multi-million pound business, in the pursuit of moments. Cracksman careering away with the Champion Stakes was a moment of magic, signposting more momentous moments for him in 2018, all stemming from that moment at York when the game changed for Cracksman, and Cracksman changed the game. That’s why, for me, those 110 transformative yards at York was my highlight of the year.    

A hugely impressive performance by Cracksman (4-6f) who wins the Great Voltigeur Stakes @yorkracecourse. Results ▶️ https://t.co/7iJOPsvjqx pic.twitter.com/VdK7MJCAcr

— Racing UK (@Racing_UK) August 23, 2017

Ben Fearnley – Ulysses, Juddmonte International

There was something special about Ulysses from day one. His pedigree – by Galileo out of Sir Henry Cecil’s 2007 Oaks winner Light Shift – and his physique laid the foundations for him to make up into a top-class racehorse, and he was clearly doing the right things at home early in his career, pitched into the Derby by his normally-oh-so-patient trainer just three weeks on from a maiden win at Newbury. Things didn’t work out for him at Epsom but Sir Michael Stoute didn’t over face him again during his three-year-old season, which ended with a career-best fourth in the Breeders’ Cup Turf, and Ulysses really came of age during 2017.

He was better than ever when winning the Gordon Richards Stakes on his return, and improved again to land his first Group 1 in the Eclipse two starts on. He was put in his place by Enable in the King George next time (though a mile and a half on soft ground probably isn’t his ideal scenario), but had his finest hour on the Knavesmire in August when winning his second Group 1 in the International Stakes. Sent off behind Guineas one-two Churchill and Barney Roy in the betting, Ulysses stalked his younger rivals under a confident Jim Crowley, looming up with his impressive cruising speed two furlongs out before being produced to lead entering the final furlong, pulling two lengths clear of the pair.

Ulysses broke the 130 barrier on Timeform ratings for the first time that day, and though he matched that level of form when running third in the Arc (again behind Enable), his International win will remain the highlight of his racing career as he now heads to stud.