The Stratford season starts in a little more than 3 weeks, but February-March is punctuated by two of the richest-endowed races in the world, both in the Middle East. The Saudi Cup and Dubai World Cup illustrate the shifting sands of the global racing market, showcasing the emerging powerhouse of the Middle East in the first quarter of the year.
For Jumps enthusiasts, the Cheltenham Festival arrives in 3 weeks’ time with four days of thunderous action at Prestbury Park, prefaced by our own first fixture of the year.
Punters will flock to Cheltenham knowing the bookies will be owed a beating this year, with so many favourites flattering to deceive when it mattered most in 2025.
It’s a big week for bettors, with Cheltenham jam-packed in a week that also features the Champions League Round of 16, the Darts Premiership in Dublin, and the final games of the Six Nations. Expect players locked to their screens, accas flying in, racing fans dipping into popular online slots between races, and all eyes fixed on Gold Cup Day.
Galopin Des Champs is hotly tipped for this year’ss Gold Cup, as National Hunt racing finds itself at the business end of the season with betting odds blazing across Gloucestershire.
But for flat racing enthusiasts, attention is already drifting toward the Lincoln Handicap at Doncaster and the promise of what lies ahead.
There’s a different rhythm to the flat season. Lazy summer afternoons at Newmarket, Pimm’s in hand, the pageantry of the Epsom Derby, the August heat at York’s Ebor meeting. Where jump racing delivers raw drama and mud-splattered heroics, the flat offers elegance, speed, and its own brand of theatre.
As the jump season reaches its crescendo, flat racing has produced moments every bit as gripping as anything Cheltenham can offer. Here are five of the finest.
Grundy vs Bustino, King George & Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes, 1975
Almost half a century later, they’re still talking about this one. The 1975 King George should have been competitive with eleven runners, including Eclipse winner Star Appeal and two-time defending champion Dahlia, but it developed into a brutal two-horse war from four furlongs out.
Dick Hern sent out pacemakers to set a punishing gallop for Bustino’s stamina, and it worked. Joe Mercer led turning for home, three lengths clear, with Grundy (the Derby and Irish Derby winner) struggling to close.
Pat Eddery somehow conjured one final effort, drawing level at the furlong pole and edging ahead as Bustino rallied on the far side. They ran on fumes through the final furlong, class and willingness propelling two exhausted champions forward.
Grundy prevailed by half a length, both horses smashing the track record by two and a half seconds. Pure, unrelenting brilliance.
Fantastic Light vs Galileo, Irish Champion Stakes, 2001
Coolmore versus Godolphin. The rivalry defined an era and still does, and this was its finest expression. Galileo arrived at Leopardstown unbeaten in six, having won the Derby, Irish Derby, and King George. He was long odds-on, the coming force in European racing.
Fantastic Light was the grizzled campaigner, a late bloomer who’d finally clicked at four. Tactics proved crucial. Frankie Dettori threaded Fantastic Light through a gap on the inside rail turning for home, stealing a length on Michael Kinane and Galileo, who were forced wide.
Up Leopardstown’s straight they came, Galileo closing relentlessly (half a length, a neck, a head) but Dettori’s mount was game on the far side.
At the line, a head separated them. Galileo would go on to transform global breeding; Fantastic Light had his day when it mattered most.
Affirmed vs Alydar, Belmont Stakes, 1978
Affirmed and Alydar met for the final time in the 1978 Belmont Stakes, the closing chapter of racing’s greatest rivalry.
They had already clashed eight times, including the first two legs of the Triple Crown, where Affirmed won the Derby by a length and a half and the Preakness by a neck.
The longer Belmont trip was expected to bring them even closer and it did. Steve Cauthen set a steady pace on Affirmed while Jorge Velasquez moved Alydar up the back straight and forced the tempo to rise. They turned for home together and ran the entire straight stride for stride, neither giving an inch.
Only in the final strides did Affirmed stretch his neck and edge ahead to win by a nose. He became the eleventh Triple Crown winner and the last for almost four decades until American Pharoah arrived in 2015. Two rivals at their peak and one finish that became legend.
Secreto vs El Gran Senor, Epsom Derby, 1984
Pat Eddery made one critical mistake: he looked across at Christy Roche. El Gran Senor was the warm favourite, a Northern Dancer colt who’d swept through the Dewhurst and 2000 Guineas for Vincent O’Brien. Secreto, trained by Vincent’s son David, had flopped in the Irish 2000 Guineas and looked outclassed.
El Gran Senor travelled beautifully through a fast pace, moved smoothly to challenge At Talaq, and Eddery sat motionless passing the two-furlong marker.
He glanced at Roche, flat to the boards on Secreto, and waited. When he finally asked at the furlong pole, El Gran Senor responded but not explosively.
He went half a length up, no more. Secreto kept finding, kept grinding. Inside the final 150 yards, Roche conjured one last effort and Secreto stuck his neck out on the line, prevailing by a short head. Drama, heartbreak, and an upset for the ages.
Rite of Passage vs Age of Aquarius, Ascot Gold Cup, 2010
This won’t feature in many greatest-race lists, but it should. Rite Of Passage was an unconventional Gold Cup contender, just two flat runs before Ascot, both wins, but he’d been jumping hurdles in between and finished third in the Ballymore at Cheltenham three months earlier.
Age Of Aquarius looked the proper stayer, second in the Grand Prix de Paris and the Ormonde Stakes. The race became a test of wills.
Age Of Aquarius hit the front five furlongs out, and Rite Of Passage immediately went after him. They slugged it out the entire length of the straight, Pat Smullen and Johnny Murtagh driving relentlessly, neither horse willing to yield.
Stride by stride, Rite Of Passage closed the gap, drew level inside the final furlong, and won by a neck. It was a gripping, brutal encounter between two horses who simply refused to lose.
As the roar of Cheltenham echoes through Gloucestershire next month, these races remind us that flat racing offers its own brand of magic. Speed, stamina, and stories all endure for generations. The summer can’t come soon enough. Meantime, tell us your own favourite races – flat or jump.
