The 15 greatest horse races of 2022 including Galopin Des Champs, Nature Strip, Flightline, Vadeni and Desert Crown

15. Corach Rambler’s Ultima (Cheltenham, March 15)

Derek Fox has been here before. Not at number 15 in a Sporting Life listicle, but at displaying his patience in the white-hot battle of a prestigious big-field staying handicap chase. He won’t beat One For Arthur’s 2017 Grand National for honour and prestige, but as rides go his from-the-rear effort on Corach Rambler in the Ultima Handicap Chase at this year’s Cheltenham Festival might just beat it for drama. You couldn’t give him a prayer of winning four from home, but as he switched his mount wide after three out, with 15 horses still in front of him, something extraordinary began to happen. He bounded out of the home turn with momentum, threaded his way back through rivals towards the inside, leaped the final two fences like he was on springs, and charged through Oscar Elite and Gericault Roque up the hill to record a barely believable two-and-three-quarter-length victory.

14. Vadeni’s Coral-Eclipse (Sandown, July 2)

If you judge how good a horse race is by the closeness of the finish Vadeni’s Coral-Eclipse would be much higher in the list. The Prix du Jockey Club winner showed a smart turn of foot to edge a four-way thriller in July, with just a neck between himself and the unlucky in-running Mishriff, who was in turn a head in front of Native Trail – with Lord North half a length behind him. Vadeni was very much in control in the closing stages, however, to the extent that his jockey, Christophe Soumillon, was fist-pumping the air before his horse had past the winning post, an action that saw him lose control and cause interference after the winning line, resulting in a 12-day ban. Oh Christophe. Worse was to come, of course, when he elbowed Rossa Ryan out of the saddle at Saint-Cloud on September 30, resulting in a 60-day ban and the termination of his Aga Khan contract.

13. Galopin Des Champs’ Boylesports Gold Cup (Fairyhouse, April 17)

Which Galopin Des Champs race should go in the list? The Turners Novices’ Chase from the Cheltenham Festival, where he capsized at the last when 12 lengths clear, or his Fairyhouse redemption where he stayed on his feet to win as he liked? Not an easy one, but with plenty of Cheltenham drama elsewhere in the 15 his Fairyhouse crowning seems more appropriate. Brilliant again, his smooth engine was in full working order here, as it was at Cheltenham, the slightest of last-fence jitters not ending his participation this time as he sauntered home 18 lengths clear. There is no novice from last season that is more eagerly anticipated as he makes the step up to open company over fences this campaign, as his position as clear Gold Cup favourite might well suggest.

12. Highfield Princess’ Nunthorpe (York, August 19)

It has been some year for Highfield Princess. Back in January she had yet to win a Group One and she hadn’t even run over five furlongs - despite having run 21 times in her first two years in training. Five wins from 10 races later, she's a triple Group One winner including two over the minimum trip – the highlight of which was her epic Coolmore Wootton Bassett Nunthorpe Stakes win at York in August. Coming on the back of a superb victory at Deauville in the Group One Prix Maurice de Gheest over six-and-a-half furlongs just 12 days earlier, she tracked the trailblazing The Platinum Queen throughout before storming clear in the final furlong. An authoritative win, by two-and-a-half lengths, from the subsequent Prix de l’Abbaye winner, and from a mare that was once beaten in a Doncaster handicap off a mark of 57.

11. Nature Strip’s King’s Stand (Royal Ascot, June 14)

Highfield Princess’ Nunthorpe was not the dominant sprinting performance of the year, however. That accolade belongs to Aussie raider Nature Strip who was simply awesome in the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot back in June. Yes, Golden Pal didn’t turn up after making a mess of the start, but this was still a strong field and he annihilated them by four-and-a-half lengths to lay down the iconic performance of the meeting.

10. Honeysuckle’s Irish Champion Hurdle (Leopardstown, February 6)

At the time this was Honeysuckle’s 14th consecutive victory under Rules and she was the poster girl of the Dublin Racing Festival, delivering in her usual style at odds of 1/5, as she did. She made it a sweet 16 at Punchestown via the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham, but the Honeysuckle story has taken a dark twist since then with suggestions the Mares’ Hurdle could be her target at this season’s Cheltenham Festival! Please say it won’t be so, Henry? Such a negative approach only gives fuel to the fire that she never beat much whilst amassing her winning sequence and, let’s be honest, the Champion Hurdle’s stock has never been lower. The race needs her. There was no shame in her unbeaten run coming to an end and in Constitution Hill she finally has a rival to measure herself against. It’s a clash that could just reignite the two-mile hurdling division and if it doesn’t come off the sport needs to take a long hard look at itself. Because, if the reigning champion doesn’t take on the champion elect: why not?

9. L’Homme Presse’s Brown Advisory (Cheltenham, March 16)

Ireland have dominated jumps racing and particularly the Cheltenham Festival for a good few years now, so rays of light for the British stick out in the memory bank. L’Homme Presse’s Brown Advisory victory came on soft ground on a very wet day two at Cheltenham, but he made all in the style of a strong stayer after jumping superbly throughout. The form got a boost at Aintree when Ahoy Senor reversed the placings, but L’Homme Presse is forgiven his Liverpool run given it was at the end of a long and terrific campaign and he’s already re-established his Gold Cup claims this season with victory off top weight in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle. It was his Brown Advisory win, though, that announced him as a future star.

8. Kyprios’ Prix du Cadran (ParisLongchamp, October 1)

And the most improved performer of the year award goes to... Kyprios! What a transformation. Too slow for a Zetland Stakes at two, not good enough for a Lingfield Derby Trial at three, the son of Galileo needed time and a trip and his genius handler Aidan O’Brien gave him just that. Unleashed in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan back in April, that victory kick-started a sequence of six wins including an Ascot Gold Cup and a memorable Goodwood Cup showdown with Stradivarius and Trueshan. The startling thing is he got better with each run, so much so that his last win, in the Prix du Cadran, had to be the one that made the list. He hit the front half a mile from home, just kept on extending his lead and, despite hanging left late on, was straightened up to win by a staggering 20 lengths. Ladies and gentleman, we have a proper stayer in our midst.

7. Alpinista’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (ParisLongchamp, October 2)

"She’s gutsy, she’s brave, she’s done it!" Ian Bartlett summed the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe up very neatly as Sir Mark Prescott's grey daughter of Frankel held on from Vadeni and Torquator Tasso after dominating the race under a cool Luke Morris. There were a lot of perfect performances going on here, with the mare herself extending her winning sequence to eight, while Morris had her in the ideal position throughout and kicked just at the right time. The crowning glory, though, goes to Prescott, who brought her back to the racetrack as late as July, giving her two runs prior to Paris, priming her perfectly for the biggest day of his 53-year career. And she was brilliant.

6. Shishkin’s Clarence House (Ascot, January 22)

You forgot that was this year, didn’t you? I did. Plenty has happened since this day. Shishkin has dented his reputation, twice. Energumene has enhanced his, thrice. But in the early weeks of 2022 Shishkin was king, and this would’ve been a short price to be crowned race of the year. Only four runners turned up, but we only really needed the two. Energumene led and jumped well, like a future Champion Chaser, while Shishkin adjusted to his left, like he wanted to go the other way. Scrubbed along early in the straight by Nico de Boinville, this looked Energumene’s to lose, but lose he did, despite being two lengths up jumping the last, as Shishkin finished with a wet sail to land the Grade One prize in thrilling fashion. A fantastic jumps race, in England, away from the Cheltenham Festival. It was something to savour.

5. Desert Crown’s Derby (Epsom, June 4)

It’s a great shame Desert Crown hasn’t been seen since. But there is hope he will return at four and his absence shouldn’t detract from the impression he made on Derby day. Here was an old school Epsom Derby hero, prepared masterfully by Sir Michael Stoute, winning his sixth Derby but first in 12 years, with a lightly-raced horse who had already flashed his brilliance in the Dante at York. That performance suggested he was ahead of his peers and Epsom merely proved it, but this was terrific, an exceptional display for a horse having just his third career run. He relaxed and travelled and looked a push-button ride under the ice-cool Richard Kingscote, looking every inch the kind of Derby winner that would shake up his elders later in the season. Alas, it wasn’t to be.

4. A Plus Tard’s Gold Cup (Cheltenham, March 18)

There was a brief moment in the Gold Cup where it looked like A Plus Tard might be short of room. We’re talking about the turn for home between the third and second last and if you freeze-frame that moment in time where Rachael Blackmore is stuck behind a wall made up of Asterion Forlonge, Royale Pagaille, Al Boum Photo and Protektorat, with stablemate and reigning champion Minella Indo a few lengths further clear, then what happened next becomes all the more remarkable. Blackmore didn’t panic and held onto A Plus Tard, waiting for a gap that eventually came, and then the response was electric. He fairly sprinted up the hill, in a manner of the like we have rarely seen at the end of such a gruelling contest, winning by 15 lengths in the style of a champion horse. It’s now with hope that he bounces back from his Betfair Chase flop, because in the Gold Cup he looked a world beater.

3. Flightline’s Breeders’ Cup Classic (Keeneland, November 5)

So much hype followed Flightline into the Breeders’ Cup Classic that it was almost impossible for him to live up to it. Here was a horse being compared to the great Secretariat thanks to five wins from five that added up to a combined winning margin of over 63 lengths. He had won the Pacific Classic by 19 lengths in an excellent time. Just what could he do at Keeneland in what proved to be his final start? The anticipation built up all week and Flightline fever went off the charts in the hour before the race. It’s unusual to get a spine tingle watching them in the parade ring, but when you see Aidan O’Brien looking a horse that isn’t his up and down with admiration you know something special is about to happen. And it did. On a windy day, on a track that wasn’t riding lightning fast, Flightline put on a show, riding on the shoulder of the gallant Life Is Good before stretching away, showing off his powerful stride, to win by eight-and-quarter lengths, a race-record margin, with Flavien Prat not so much as tickling him with the whip. It was a tremendous way to bow out.

2. Constitution Hill’s Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ (Cheltenham, March 15)

The first race of the 2022 Cheltenham Festival remains the most memorable, arguably, even acknowledging A Plus Tard’s stunning Gold Cup win. It’s true. Constitution Hill’s Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle victory, by 22 lengths in a remarkable time, was unbelievable, even to the man who trains him, Nicky Henderson, who was staggered he could do such a thing to second home Jonbon, his stablemate. Jonbon’s exploits in novice chases this season have underlined Constitution Hill’s brilliance, as Constitution Hill did himself with a pure class performance in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle. He chased a strong gallop in the Supreme, made his own running in the Fighting Fifth and is so good he might have the reigning champion running scared to the mares’. This was the race where he truly announced his brilliance.

1. Baaeed’s Juddmonte International (York, August 17)

Baaeed’s Juddmonte International at York was equine perfection. It took his career to 10/10, on his first go at a distance in excess of a mile, and the result was never in a moment’s doubt. The son of Sea The Stars may have been bred for a trip, but he had already been so brilliant over a mile it seemed inconceivable he could be even better up in distance, but on the Knavesmire in August he most certainly was. His straightforwardness was one of his greatest assets and there was no hint of him pulling going up in trip, Jim Crowley happy at a very early stage and that confidence oozed through to his horse. Native Trail, a Classic winner over a mile, was being shoved along approaching the three pole, and soon the rest of the field followed suit, bar Baaeed under a motionless Crowley, the pair in a race of their own. He cruised upsides Mishriff with the handbrake on and when Crowley took it off the response was electric as he sprinted clear by six-and-a-half lengths. He couldn’t end his career at Ascot with a perfect record, such is horse racing. But he was perfect on August 17 2022, the highlight of the racing year.

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