The standout moments and stories which made an unforgettable year

January

Racing unmasked again
We laughed in the face of Covid and spat in the eye of lockdown as Cheltenham welcomed 30,000 people to its traditional New Year's Day meeting. It felt right to be back to something approaching normal, with the sound of grumbling about vaccine passes and lateral flow tests being drowned out by the sound of happy people cheering good horses at close quarters.

Things can only get better
Britain's 23-5 humiliation by Ireland at last year's Cheltenham Festival really put the cat among the pigeons at turf HQ, as the BHA's Quality Jump Racing Review Group set about producing "an ambitious and exciting blueprint for change" to ready a “battle-hardened" team for future festivals. The sniggering from across the Irish Sea was clearly audible in High Holborn.

February

Another taste of Honey
Honeysuckle earned comparisons with legends Istabraq and Dawn Run as she landed a third Irish Champion Hurdle to extend her unbeaten spree to 14 races. "She is entitled to be in those conversations of great hurdlers we have seen," said Istabraq's regular partner Charlie Swan, and Charlie is a man who knows. Next stop a second Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham?