Top ten North Yorkshire horseracing moments of 2009

10) The Press Family Raceday celebrates its tenth birthday – Thousands of you joined us for the feast of family fun on Knavesmire in September and were rewarded when Malton trainer Richard Fahey notched a local double with William Morgan and Coolminx.

9) Mark Johnston smashes the 200-winner barrier – They are used to winners at Middleham’s Kingsley House. Every yard manager is given a target and this year’s overall total was an ambitious 169, achieving £2.3 million in prize money.

In the event, they would see 214 victories at Johnston’s yard, bringing in close to £3 million. For the trainer, whose motto is ‘Always Trying’, the challenge next year will only be to better it.

8) Sitting Tennant strikes in the bumper at Aintree in April – Mon Mome may have stolen the headlines on Grand National Day after his 100-1 win in the big race, but Middleham trainer Kate Walton’s Sitting Tennant wasn’t too far behind. Springing a 66-1 shock, Sitting Tennant got the verdict in a photo-finish over 2-1 favourite Lidar in the John Smith’s National Hunt Flat race.

7) Utmost Respect – One of jockey Paul Hanagan’s highlights of the year, Utmost Respect was brilliant in winning the Group 2 Duke of York Stakes at York in May.

A Group 3 win at the Curragh followed quickly, but the sprinting star – who appeared to have the horse racing world at his feet – tragically died following an infection in the summer.

6) Jukebox Jury’s foreign adventures – When Mark Johnston’s colt won the Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes at Ascot last year, the trainer thought he had a superstar on his hands.

A stress fracture curtailed Classic ambitions but, following a fourth place finish in York’s Great Voltigeur Stakes in August, the three-year-old took the Grand Prix de Deauville in France before winning the Group 1 Preis von Europa in Cologne, Germany, at the end of September – giving Royston Ffrench two fabulous successes.

5) Richard Fahey’s wonderful season – It couldn’t have happened to a nicer chap. After big Handicap successes and Group wins of previous years, 2009 saw Malton-based Fahey lead a huge assault.

Only Richard Hannon and Mark Johnston would stack up more Flat winners than Fahey – a remarkable achievement for a handler renowned for getting the best out of his charges.

A total of 164 winners far outstripped the previous best of 113 and also ensured a century of Flat winners for stable jockey Paul Hanagan. Surely racing’s big backers will be getting on board the Fahey bandwagon.

4) Sirvino takes the 50th John Smith’s Cup at York – A scorching day, a massive crowd, a Golden Jubilee race, and a career-best prize haul for Thirsk trainer David Barron.

In a race owned by Malton trainer Richard Fahey for the last two years, Sirvino – a 16-1 shot – swept to a fifth successive win under jockey Neil Brown in July.

Held up early on, Brown manoeuvred the four-year-old into position and streaked away in the last 100 yards to a two-and-three-quarter length success over Kingdom Of Fife, trained by Sir Michael Stoute and ridden by champion jockey Ryan Moore.

Netting £150,000, the heritage handicap win was by far the biggest monetary success of Barron’s career and kept the John Smith’s Cup in North Yorkshire for another year.

3) Character Building enjoys Cheltenham Festival victory – You will never see a cooler ride than the one Jamie Codd gave Character Building to win the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at Cheltenham in March.

Settling the nine-year-old towards the rear early on, Codd made steady progress and was sat perfectly still on the 16-1 shot even after jumping the final fence.

All he had to do was push his mount out to hold off Pretty Star by a length and give Settrington handler John Quinn a memorable Festival moment.

2) Sea The Stars wins the Juddmonte International at York – They had never seen anything like it on Knavesmire, and York is a track more than accustomed to hosting the biggest names in racing.

The parade ring was packed, and that was just before the race, as Sea The Stars – the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and Eclipse hero – prepared an assault on York’s flagship £600,000 Juddmonte International in August.

The race may only have had four runners, but it was not short of excitement. When Mastercraftsman peeled away from his two Aidan O’Brien-trained stable-mates it looked, just for a second, as if he had stolen a march on Sea The Stars.

But John Oxx’s wonder-horse was not for beating and his surge to the line, and the joy in the winner’s enclosure afterwards, made it a privilege to be a witness.

1) Borderlescott wins the Nunthorpe Stakes for a second year – If you are a Sea The Stars fan, then perhaps this is a surprise number one but Borderlescott’s defence of his Nunthorpe crown – the first horse to achieve that for more than a quarter of a century – was something to behold.

Running a small string of horses from his Cowthorpe base, Robin Bastiman engineered a spectacular Nunthorpe win at Newmarket in 2008 and then galvanised his seven-year-old to repeat the trick on his local track in August.

This was no fluke. Ridden by Neil Callan, ‘Scotty’ was produced at the perfect moment, almost right on the line, to smash to the head of the field and hold off Benbaun by a neck, giving Bastiman a second Group 1 winner.

During a Festival of emotional victories, this was the best – and a fitting way to remember 2009.