My racing heroes and zeroes of an eventful 2016
Racing, to give it its dues, does recognition well. With any number of tables to top and awards to win each year, by the end of the calendar every champion has had as many well-earned rounds of applause as they might desire.
Yet while the recognised awards and titles go to the very best, each of us has our own personal heroes, some of them bona fide champions, others just those whose application or character marked them out as worthy of celebration or affection.
As 2016 draws to a close, I'd like to spend this week's column celebrating my particular heroes, those who made this year in racing more entertaining, more funny, or more awe-inspiring than it would otherwise have been.
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- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms
- The budget has heaped even more trouble on racing - and I fear many trainers will now decide the numbers just don't add up
- Why I think Cheltenham Festival handicaps need to change - JP McManus writes exclusively for the Racing Post
- No-one has ever emerged from the womb wearing a trilby - racing's future survival hangs on pursuing a young audience
- Four score and ten just a number to Peter Harris as July Cup triumph shows there's more to the elderly than medical conditions