Push the boundaries and think big: British racing must innovate

Annual landmarks in the calendar can exert a powerful bearing. This is particularly true of the racing community, which associates the first Sunday in October with the Arc, the first Tuesday in November with the Melbourne Cup, the first Saturday in May with the Kentucky Derby, and after much gnashing of teeth, the first Saturday in June with the Derby.

Equally, the closing days of December induce a mood of reflection. We look back on events that shaped the year, and from racing's perspective, this one did little to endear itself to the Turf.

It was a year in which the Derby winner went to ground in mid-summer, in the process taking Flat racing's strongest storyline with him. And it was a year in which Victoria Pendleton’s attempt to win the Foxhunter Chase was the talking point of the Cheltenham Festival, which again highlighted racing's over-zealous reliance on people outside the sport to write its headlines. Even Pendleton seemed to be embarrassed by all the hoopla.