Racing's top ten champions from the year 2016

The 2016 calendar year is done and dusted and it was overall a pretty successful year for the horse racing industry, highlighted of course by the champion mare that is Winx and some of the deeds she produced on race day.

She wasn’t alone in starring though, so here are top 10 champs of 2016.

1. Winx
How could you look elsewhere? I put my hand up, I had serious reservations about her running a genuine 2040m on a shifty track against a world class horse in Hartnell.

But she well and truly left me with egg on my face as she spanked her rivals and produced the most dominant Group l win of the modern era and it will be a while before we see something like that again, especially in a race like the Cox Plate.

She clearly sits atop.

2. Chautauqua
Nothing may have gone right for him in the Spring, but let’s not forget the efforts he produced during the Autumn.

Produced an unbelievable finish to win the Lightning fresh before the weight beat him in the Newmarket.

He was then supposed to be playing second fiddle to Exosphere in the TJ Smith, but what we witnessed was a world class performance from, at the time, the worlds best sprinter.

But to rightfully hold that tag he had to do it on the world stage, and there is none better than Sha Tin.

No words are needed, just watch the replay.

3. Maurice
Ugly name, but what an absolute superstar this bloke is and it’s a shame we won’t see him race again.

Had a stellar career on the track and it came to a conclusion in the Hong Kong International Cup (2000m) where he was spotting the A Shin Hikari a massive start on the home turn but once he balanced up and Ryan Moore gave him a dig, gee he exploded and recorded a dominant win, finishing his career as one of the best Japan has ever produced.

4. Jameka
Some were quick to forget this mare thanks to the latter part of the Spring, but you have to be reminded of what a dominant display this was in one of the toughest 2400m handicaps in the world.

Yes, on paper she looked a weighted moral and the depth wasn’t as strong as what we have seen in previous editions, but the job still had to be done and it was done in super fashion, aided by a pearler from Nick Hall, who wasted hard to ride the weight and was rewarded with his second Caulfield Cup.

5. Extreme Choice
This was the best win from any juvenile for 2016. Sat three/four wide no cover on a hot speed in a high pressure, but just absolutely bolted to the front at the top of the straight and safely held off stablemate Flying Artie at bay.

He of course went on with it in the Spring to win the Moir and is off to the breeding barn sooner rather than later, but it was hard to ignore this effort.

6. Lucia Valentina
We all knew that Kris Lees was a gun trainer, but this just proved how vastly underrated he is.

He mapped out a plan after Hong Kong to have this mare fresh and specifically target the Queen Elizabeth. Lovely fresh run in the Coolmore before being given the break and set the mare for the $4 Million race.

Thankfully for her, rain pelted the track in the week leading up and she got a favourable rain affected surface, but that aside, the turn of foot she showed against a high class field was something to behold and she did without being fully extended.

7. Yankee Rose
Extreme Choice might have had the best win from a juvenile, but this girl and her effort in the Sires Produce was clearly the most dominant.

Ridden with a bit of arrogance by Zac Purton, she just trucked up three and four with cover up to the turn and all he had to was wait and wait and wait to hit the button.

Once he did, it was game over and she spanked them.

Injury stopped her from running and likely winning the Champagne, and given what happened in the Slipper when Purton was not sure about the whip rules, you could make a case she should have got the triple crown.

That was franked in the Spring with a placing in the Cox Plate which followed a Spring Champion triumph.

8. Lasqueti Spirit
It was just a good old-fashioned case of riding with nothing to lose.

That was sure the case, because prior to the Oaks, she was a maiden who had only won $30,000 prizemoney, but Brenton Avdulla hatched out a plan to make it a true staying contest with Lasqueti Spirit, setting up a huge lead mid-race and he just left the other fillies gassed with nothing left while she kept at the one speed.

The ride of 2016 by the length of the Flemington straight.

9. Hauraki
This Epsom just has to be seen to be believed. He was going absolutely nowhere on the turn and halfway down the straight until McDonald eased him to the outside and once he got clear air, gee didn’t he just savage the line and lunged hard to nail Dibayani and co right on the peg.

The most exciting win of the year, and an amazing performance given where he was in the run.

10. Werther
If there was to be a threat to Winx in the Cox Plate, it could have been this horse but he unfortunately was injured and we didn’t see him, but this was a world class win.

Former kiwi who was brought by Hong Kong interests for the Derby, and he did that in style under Bowman before he got back on the horse in the QEll Cup and he absolutely dominated a world class field which included the Japanese superstar Lovely Day and globetrotter Highland Reel.

Can’t wait to see him this year.