Highs and lows of the racing year in 2025

Highs

Nick Rockett

Never has the perennial winner Willie Mullins been more speechless than when his son rode Nick Rockett to victory in the Grand National. Patrick Mullins is one of the sport’s greatest amateurs and a huge part of the Closutton operation, with his 33-1 triumph in the race made even more emotional as the horse is named after a late friend of owner Stewart Andrew and came after the death of his wife and the horse’s co-owner, Sadie.

Golden Ace

Yes, she had some luck on her side, but few could begrudge Jeremy Scott and his star mare Golden Ace victory in a madcap renewal of the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. Not only did 2023 winner Constitution Hill suffer a shock fall, but then defending champion State Man crashed out at the final obstacle with the race seemingly at his mercy. Golden Ace again profited from the jumping frailties of Constitution Hill and a newcomer to the top two-mile division in The New Lion when landing the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle last month, but the obstacles are there to be jumped and who is to say she will not be bang there again in the big one come March?

The Jukebox Man

Racing loves nothing more than a crossover story, so when a sporting celebrity owns a horse it is big news – and when it is a good horse even better. For Harry Redknapp, the FA Cup-winning football manager who took Tottenham Hotspur into the Champions League, to have one as good as The Jukebox Man is the stuff of dreams for racing’s PR machine. His last-gasp victory in the King George on Boxing Day, on an afternoon with no Premier League football, was the biggest sporting story of the day and he is now a legitimate Cheltenham Gold Cup contender.

Marine Nationale

There was more than a degree of poignancy to the brilliant victory of Marine Nationale in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. Two years earlier Barry Connell’s pride and joy had marked himself down as a potential superstar by winning the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, in turn becoming the defining horse of the brilliant if all too brief career of rider Michael O’Sullivan. There was not a dry eye in the winner’s enclosure as just a few weeks after the rising star’s tragic death, Marine Nationale became the king of the two-mile division with an 18-length romp in the hands of Sean Flanagan.

Champions Day

On an afternoon that is meant to crown the champions of the Flat season, it was quite incredible that Charlie Hills’ Cicero’s Gift won the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at 100-1 and was not even the biggest-priced winner! That accolade went to the Richard Fahey-trained Powerful Glory, a 200-1 winner of the Champions Sprint. The rest of the winners could be easily found though, and with subsequent Japan Cup hero Calandagan successful in the Champion Stakes and Kalpana winning the Fillies & Mares Stakes, it was an afternoon that had everything.

Lows

The Aga Khan

The Aga Khan IV, one of racing’s greatest advocates, died in early February aged 88. A prolific owner and breeder, the Aga Khan won the Derby on five occasions – with the famously ill-fated Shergar in 1981, followed by Shahrastani, Kahyasi, Sinndar and Harzand. He also lifted the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe four times, with Akiyda, Sinndar, Dalakhani and Zarkava all prevailing. Through his stud farms the Aga Khan maintained many high-quality bloodlines, with his work now continued by his daughter, Princess Zahra Aga Khan – and perfectly illustrated by the likes of superstar performers Daryz and Calandagan.

Michael O’Sullivan

The racing industry was plunged into real shock when the highly-talented young rider Michael O’Sullivan suffered a severe fall at Thurles in mid-February, with the remainder of the card then abandoned as he was airlifted to hospital. Tragically, the news that followed 10 days later was the very worst possible –  O’Sullivan died aged just 24. The sport and its grieving participants came together to name the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, a race the rider won in 2023, in his memory.

Oisin Murphy

Multiple champion jockey Oisin Murphy has strayed into disciplinary difficulties in the past, but a serious car accident in April brought him into the remit of forces more grave the BHA’s legal department. Murphy was well over the legal drinking limit when tested hours after the accident, with his female passenger thankfully none the worse after spell in hospital. Murphy entered a guilty plea to a drink driving charge and was fined £70,000 alongside a 20-month driving ban. His licence to ride was not suspended but remains subject to ‘strict conditions’.

Tommie Jakes

The shocking news that apprentice rider Tommie Jakes, aged only 19, had died broke on October 30. Jakes was found dead in his bedroom in Newmarket, and his loss triggered a palpable sense of disbelief and sadness within the sport. Jakes rode 59 winners throughout his career, and was apprenticed to George Boughey’s stable on Hamilton Road in Newmarket.