AUTHOR: Star Sports Content

The Keejay’s – The Decade In Racing

The decade started with Mehendi forging his way through the Fibresand at Southwell to win the apprentice maiden, taking 2m 34.92s to do so. It hasn’t ended technically yet, but in-between we’ve had some memories in racing that will stay with fans for a lifetime. To recap the incredible period that was the 2010’s, we have a special awards blog looking at the very best racing had to offer, during the last decade. The is the Keejay’s, which this year is hosted by Star Sports!

🏆 Sir AP McCoy Award for Jumps Ride Of The Decade: We have been spoilt for so many great efforts, but Ruby Walsh was perhaps at his best when he managed to give Tidal Bay last-gasp thrust between First Lieutenant and the favourite Flemenstar in the then Lexus Chase in 2012. He delivered his challenge with perfection making up five lengths from the the last and taking any chance of a rally out of the equation. It just beats AP McCoy’s ride on Synchronized in the 2012 Gold Cup, Walsh’s own effort when he managed to lift Champagne Fever to win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle in 2013, either of his Cheltenham Festival wins on Yorkhill, Nico De Boinville’s front running Gold Cup win on Coneygree, and Paul Carberry’s hold up win in the Welsh National on Monbeg Dude, whilst there were fine efforts in the second half of the decade from Lucy Gardner, Rachael Blackmore, and James Bowen to name a few.

Honourable Mentions: AP McCoy (Synchronized, 2012 Gold Cup), Nico De Boinville (2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup), Paul Carberry (Monbeg Dude, 2013 Welsh National), Lucy Gardner (Snazz Man, myracing.com Handicap Hurdle 2016), Jack Kennedy (Clonmel Racecourse Supporters Club Only 90 Euros Beginners Chase, 2017)

🏆 The Flat Ride Of The Decade: We’ve been blessed in this regard – the last decade has seen jockeys all over the world decide the best races with incredible skill – but Seamie Heffernan’s sensational steal Of the 2016 Breeders’ Cup Turf must go down as one of the all-time great rides at the meeting, if not in international racing history itself. A special mention to Joao Moreira’s eight wins on one March 5th card at Sha Tin, Frankie Dettori’s ride on Golden Horn in the Arc and Queen’s Trust in the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Honourable Mentions: Richard Hughes (Sole Power, 2014 Nunthorpe), Ryan Moore (The Grey Gatsby, 2014 Irish Champion Stakes, Hit It A Bomb 2015 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf)

🏆 The Judy Murray Award for Flat Training Performance Of The Decade: The list here is limitless but it is hard to think of a trainer dominating an event as high class and well contested as the Arc, and Aidan O’Brien’s 1-2-3 in the 2016 edition must go down as one of the all-time great feats. According to records, the first time a trainer has sent out the first three home in Arc history, and what’s perhaps more remarkable is that none of the first three were three-year-old fillies, the category of horse that has so dominated the Arc in the last decade. He beats Henry Cecil’s brilliant handling of Frankel, Chris Waller’s management of Winx, Bob Baffert’s two – yes, two – Triple Crowns, John Gosden’s countless achievements, Yoshito Yahagi’s handling of Lys Gracieux, Mitsuru Hashida’s Sussex Stakes success with Deirdre, ending Japan racing’s 19-year wait for its second Group One winner in Britain, Charlie Appleby’s rejuvenation of Godolphin, and Mark Johnston’s double record breaking month in a decade chock full of winners.

Honourable Mentions: Henry Cecil (Frankel), Chris Waller (Winx), Mark Johnston (set a record for most British career victories with his 4,194th success in August 2018), John Gosden (Enable, Stradivarius, several others), Bob Baffert (Dual Triple Crown winners), Yoshito Yahagi (Cox Plate win, Lys Gracieux)

🏆 The Arkle Award For Jumps Horse Of The Decade: There are so many contenders here but Hurricane Fly’s brilliant career at the beginning of the decade is like few seen in the sport and there have been few to match. Tiger Roll, Sprinter Sacre and Faugheen get honourable mentions.

Honourable Mentions: See Above

🏆 The Dancing Brave Flat Horse Of The Decade: It can only be Frankel, who in three seasons of racing became one of the greatest horses in racing history. His 14 wins included several performances that themselves could be described as the best performances in history and it says a lot that he is the most obvious recipient of this entire award.

Honourable Mentions: Enable (2017 and 2018 Arc), Cirrus Des Aigles (Group 1 wins in 2013, 2013, at ages of eight and nine), Stradivarius (Stayers Million, 2018 & 2019), American Pharaoh (Triple Crown, Breeders’ Cup Classic), Treve (2012 & 2013 Arc De Triomphe), Found (2016 Arc de Triomphe), Redzel (back to back winner of Everest Stakes), Beauty Generation (2017 and 2018 Hong Kong Mile) Gentildonna (2012 and 2013 Japan Cup), Blue Point (King’s Stand and Diamond Jubilee Stakes, 2019)

🏆 The Martin Pipe Award for NH Training Performance Of The decade:  We’ve been blessed over the past ten years in this sphere, but Nicky Henderson’s rejuvenation of Sprinter Sacre to win another Champion Chase after his heart condition which looked to have ended his career at the top level. That magical moment in 2016 has entered racing folklore and rightly so, in a decade which was full of fantastic comebacks. That just beats the novice success of Coneygree, who was brought back brilliantly from injury by the Bradstocks to win the Gold Cup.

Honourable Mentions: Gordon Elliott (Tiger Roll’s two Grand Nationals), Willie Mullins (Cheltenham Festival wins with Quevega, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014), Paul Nicholls (five wins in King George Chase), The Bradstocks (Coneygree, Gold Cup).

🏆 The Richard Johnson Award for Jump Jockey Of The Decade: The last decade was dominated by three of the best jockeys we’ll see in either code. We have already paid homage to the skill of Ruby Walsh, and we should absolutely pay tribute to the phenomenal consistency of Richard Johnson, but AP McCoy left a mark on sport like no other and even his last five years can be considered great ones with a Grand National and Gold Cup win amongst them. In his last season he rode 231 winners, including a brilliant front running ride on Uxizandre.

Honourable Mentions: Ruby Walsh, Richard Johnson, Davy Russell, David Cottin

🏆 The Johnny Murtagh Award for Flat Jockey Of The Decade: Extremely difficult to pick a winner, but Frankie Dettori’s renaissance is truly one of the defining themes of the decade. The future looked uncertain after his six month drugs ban in 2012, but after signing with Sheikh Joaan he never looked back and since teaming up with John Gosden, he’s been the world’s in form jockey. He is a global superstar for racing on a level nobody can match and the skill and versatility of his wins put him as the outstanding flat racing figure of the last decade. He beats off stiff competition from Joao Moriera, Hugh Bowman, Ryan Moore, Mike Smith, John Velazquez, Oisin Murphy, and Yutaka Take to name a few.

Honourable Mentions: See above

🏆 The Denman Award for NH Performance Of The Decade: Where even to begin? There are about 10 – 15 performances that I could select which you could rightly disagree with here. The nature of Sprinter Sacre’s first Champion Chase – and perhaps his least remembered one – is unforgettable but consider this. Altior’s Supreme Novice Hurdle. His most impressive Festival win visually, he smashed a five time Grade 1 winner (Min), A subsequent dual Champion Hurdle winner (Buveur D’Air), and a dual Aintree Hurdle winner (Supasundae) amongst others in one of the strongest editions of the Supreme of the decade. Think about it, at least.

🏆 The Mill Reef Flat Performance Of The Decade: Frankel’s breath-taking 11-length triumph in the Queen Anne, beating one of the best milers of recent times in Excelebration is one of the best Group 1 performances you’ll ever see and, with the benefit of hindsight, even better now than it was then. Honourable mentions? Too many to count.

🏆 The Google Photo Of The Decade Award:

Patrick McCann has brought many a still picture to life in the past decade, and his burst of Paul Townend keeping the partnership alive despite flying on Kemboy will live long in the memory.

Special Mentions:

Two other photographers have been outstanding over the last decade, and I couldn’t not share some of their best work.

Dan Heap:

Woodland Opera, Woodland Opera and Robbie Power absolutely fly the last fence to win the Grade 2 PWC Champion Chase

Michael Harris captures Cristophe Soumillion in full glory after the Champion Stakes victory of Almanzor at Ascot:

A big shout to Francesca Altoft, who has excelled herself over the past few years with an array of incredible photos.

🏆 The Tim Peak Award for Rocket Jump Of The Decade: There have been a lot of awesome spring heeled leaps through the decade, but few were as fluent and fast as the jump Un De Secaux took to effectively seal the Ryanair in 2017. The front running legend has made a lot of memories through the last few years at both Cheltenham and Punchestown, but he was rarely as impressive as he was that day.

🏆 The Lazarus Award for Comeback Of The Decade: Another area with a ton of contenders here. A big shout for Henry Cecil’s return to the top level, with Midday and Twice Over as well as Frankel winning big races in this decade, but this is one for the jockeys. Henry Brooke – who had extensive blood loss, fractured eight ribs and his right shoulder blade and suffered a punctured lung in a fall at Hexham only to be riding just seven weeks later, and Brian Toomey, who was given a 3% chance of surviving after a head first fall from Solway Dandy only to return to race riding two years later. Brooke is still riding and Toomey is now targeting a career in training.

🏆 Broadcast Reporter Of The Decade, presented by Ryan Moore: A huge amount of contenders here, so we’ll have two winning categories. In the US, Nick Luck’s brilliant coverage Of the Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup (along with Royal Ascot for good measure) wins him the award in the USA. In the UK Gary O’Brien – a tremendous all round reporter for both At The Races and Racing TV now. And what a shame it was to lose Cornelius Lysaght from the BBC after many years of brilliant service.

Honourable Mentions: John Hunt (BBC), Ed Chamberlain (ITV), Cornelius Lysaght (BBC), Matt Chapman (ITV), Sally Ann Grassick (ITV/RTE), Oli Bell (RUK/ITV), Tom Hammond (NBC), Bob Costas (NBC), Bruce McAveney (7 Sport), Rachael Finch (7 Sport)

🏆 The Gary Neville Award For Analyst Of The Decade: Lydia Hislop’s brilliant work on Racing TV and Racing UK and for The Sporting Life, especially her Road To Cheltenham series, steals the accolade for a tireless stream of quality. A big mention for Kevin Blake and Simon Rowlands, who have both lit up the At The Races website with in depth commentary and analysis, with Rowlands getting a special note for his For his commitment to sectional timing, which is an invaluable addition to the raceday experience, and one for which he must be commended.

Honourable Mentions: Rachel Candelora (RUK), Steve Mellish (RUK), Matt Bernier (NBC), Jamie Lynch (Timeform and Sky Racing), Will Hoffmann (Irish Field), Ron Wood (Racing Post), Nicolas Godfrey (Racing Post and others), Peter T Fornatale (At The Races)

🏆 The Wacky Races Award For Funniest Contest Of The Decade: A lot of hilarious entries here, including an extremely amusing renewal Of The Vertem Futurity Trophy in 2015, but nothing is going to beat the the Yarmouth mix-up when the 50-1 winner of the opening juvenile race was actually revealed as her year-older stablemate who had been due to run later on the card. An honest error but a brilliant one.

🏆 The James Blunt Award for Tweeter Of The Decade: If I pick just one of you you’ll all go bonkers at me anyway so here’s a list of some of the people I’ve most enjoyed following for a whole host of racing related reasons. Most Of The journalists who aren’t on here will be in other categories.

Lydia Hislop (@LydiaHislop), Simon Nott (@SimonNott), Alex Banks (@UAE_Racing), Kitty Trice (@KittyTrice), Simon Rowlands (@RowleyfileFFF), Graham Cunningham (@gcunning12), Carly Kaiser (@ballydolphin), Jason Beem (@BeemieAwards), Martin Pennington (@quevega), Jon Da Silva (@CreamOnTop), John Priddey (@gloriavictis), and Baba Jasmine (@Baba_Jas), Jay Hazley (@TracksideJay), Ryan Summerfield (@ryanOTHx), Steve Ryder (@SteveRyder13), David Stewart (@david_stewart), Melissa Jones (@fillyonform)

🏆 The Best Feature Piece Of The Decade: Alistair Down’s tribute to Henry Cecil the day after his death is one of the finest pieces of writing you’ll ever see. The link’s below.

https://www.racingpost.com/news/alastair-down-remembers-racings-best-loved-trainer-sir-henry-cecil/334895

Honourable Mentions: Writers who produced outstanding long form efforts include Lee Mottershead, Melissa Jones (Gloucester Live), Scott Burton (Racing Post), Kitty Trice (Racing Post), Donn McLean (Irish Times), Rob Wright (The Times)

🏆 The Print Journalist Of The Decade: Many contenders here even with the cutbacks from the print press, but Chris Cook’s ferocious investigative skills combined with an eagle-eye for value and a wide range of in depth reporting on issues means he takes the accolade, although a big mention is needed for his companion Greg Wood on this level.

Honourable Mentions: Marcus Armytage (The Times), Donn McClean (Sunday Times, Irish Field), Alan Lee (The Times) and James Willoughby (Racing Post), David Yates (The Mirror)

🏆 Journalists To Follow During the 2020’s: There are a number of young reporters who are making some big steps, namely with blogging content.

Luca Viscogliosi (@TalksLuca)
Zoe Smith (@zoelouisesmithx)
Joshua Stacey (@TheRacingJosh)
Samantha Martin (@sam_angelina22)

🏆 The Daily Mail Award for Judge Of The Decade: Two tipsters really stand out here. That Hugh Taylor’s year just gone, his 11th in profit for At The Races, had a nearly 100 point profit and yet was still his worst, is a measure of his incredible consistency. Another online tipping ace – Andy Holding – is over 500 points in profit since the beginning of 2018. Big shouts for Rhys Williams, (now with ATR after what seems like a lifetime of landing huge priced bumper winners) and Ryan Summerfield, who managed to tip – amongst many other winners Beer Goggles to land the Long Distance Hurdle at 33/1. Spotlight’s Emily Weber landed many a handicap in what is one of the trickiest assignments in racing, and deserves a shout out.

Honourable Mentions: Ryan Summerfield, Rhys Williams, Emily Weber

Views of authors do not necessarily represent views of Star Sports Bookmakers.

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