This year is decent but which was the best one to be a racing fan?

There are two major positives as the nights draw in and the temperature falls: the jumps season gets properly rolling and the pub action moves from the beer garden to the cosy corner table. And with cosy pub corners comes meditative pub conversations about all things indulgent and pointless.

The other day I was sitting in a riverside boozer with a couple of pals when the meandering conversation, oozing through the languid afternoon like a silted river, turned to a debate about the merits of this year's racing and, in turn, which year's racing we recalled most fondly – and even which year of racing we wished we'd been around to witness.

By universal opinion, 2018, decent as it has been, is no standout. So what does make for a vintage racing year? And what was the perfect year to be a racing fan? Good questions, and ones which really assist the narrative flow of this column.