TDN Horses of the Year

Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Tom Frary selects the horse he believes is the best of Aidan O'Brien's nine Derby winners. Sectional timing wasn't around when Dancing Brave tanked down the outer to get within just under a length of Shahrastani in 1986. If it had been, we'd have been able to gauge just how unlucky he was (he was). Maybe if it had been there could also have been a proper assessment of whether El Gran Senor should have prevailed...

   Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Emma Berry selects the French raider who took QIPCO British Champions Day by storm. I'd been impressed by Christopher Head since the day I first visited his stable in July 2019 and found him on the end of a broomstick sweeping the floor outside the rented boxes of the five horses he had in training at that time. His ascent has been rapid, and by now his string must be 20 times that size. And,...

We all have our favourites, and this week members of TDN Europe's editorial team each select a horse who provided particular enjoyment in 2023. Kicking off the series, Brian Sheerin puts forward the case for the sprinter whose victory in the G1 Flying Five was made all the more special by his human connections. I don't know about you, but I love an underdog story. Perhaps that is why I fell in love with National Hunt racing at a young age. Danoli (Ire), Bobbyjo (Ire) and Papillon (Ire) developed something...