The student punter who won a million and other curious stories of 2017
May you live in interesting times runs the old Chinese curse – and my are we ever living in interesting times. From Brexit negotiations to Donald J Trump via North Korea and Syria, it seems sometimes that the world is either already blaze or studiously attempting to set alight its own trousers.
Sport, as ever, is a blessed escape from the 24/7 rolling news cycle and, looking back on 2017, our little world of racing and betting served up plenty to distract and delight.
No-one will forget the glorious moments that punctuated this season: Sizing John's three Gold Cups, the wonder of Enable or Aidan O'Brien's astonishing and record-breaking worldwide Group 1 spree. But there were also lighter moments when the absurd and the farcical crept into racing (it's rarely too far away, as we saw last week when the Lingfield stewards genuinely held an inquiry into an unapproved track appearance by one Mr S Claus).
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- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms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
- We know that times are tight - but racecourses really do need to step up and improve outdated weighing rooms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