| History will understandably judge Aidan O'Brien the outstanding figure in European Flat racing in 2008 following a season that saw unprecedented dominance by the Ballydoyle stable. Most of the biggest trophies in his native Ireland and in Britain fell the way of O'Brien - number one trainer to the Coolmore racing and breeding empire - via horses like Duke Of Marmalade, Henrythenavigator and Halfway To Heaven. But, to be fair, he is not the only one to have enjoyed an unforgettable year in Europe, and here we aim to celebrate some of the others. French trainer Freddie Head is most certainly one. Formerly a jockey whose talents rather polarised opinion, the unanimous verdict about this year is that Head's Group One-winning cup has been overflowing.  Zarkava's rider Christophe Soumillon, Hayley Turner and John Gosden |
On Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe day at Longchamp, he and jockey Davy Bonilla took two of the top prizes on offer including the Prix de l'Abbaye with Europe's champion sprinter Marchand D'Or. Epsom Derby winner New Approach - also terrific in the Champion Stakes at Newmarket - and superb filly Lush Lashes helped to ensure that Ireland's Jim Bolger came up trumps again. British racing endured a generally disappointing year at Group One level, but spirits were lifted stirringly by Borderlescott, part of Robin Bastiman's tiny Yorkshire operation, in the Nunthorpe Stakes, staged at Newmarket. That trainer John Gosden cast his long shadow so regularly over the winners' circle is amongst the indicators that bode well for a British revival in 2009. Having said all that, Richard Hannon won't need any invigorating having knocked up another huge total number of winners, and enjoyed superiority in the principal two-year-old races of O'Brien proportions. Linking up with the Coolmore team as O'Brien's main jockey has meant a phenomenal year for Johnny Murtagh, who has made an art form out of being in the right place at the right time. At home, Ryan Moore has been Mr Reliable, Richard Hughes and Jimmy Fortune have sparkled and Hayley Turner has continued her relentless climb to the top. There are whispers of a very big job for her in the not too distant future. When the thoroughbred breeding industry comes to hand out its gongs, owner/breeder Julian Richmond-Watson will deserve to take home an armful following the Epsom Oaks victory of his filly Look Here.  | 606: COMMENT |
Clearly training her has not been straightforward, but Ralph Beckett produced the horse to run a cracking race to finish third in the St Leger, and she races on in 2009. For female three-year-olds, it's been a year brimming with talent. As well as Look Here, we had the St Leger runner-up Unsung Heroine, we had Lush Lashes, Goldikova, Halfway To Heaven and, of course, we had the unbeaten, but sadly retired, Arc winner Zarkava. Now, that's what I call girl power.
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