THE New Year couldn’t come quick enough for most people and, while little seems to have changed in many ways, there’s plenty for racing fans to look forward to in 2021.

Here’s the people and horses I think will have a very happy New Year.

 

George Boughey (Flat trainer)

It’s only 18 months since George Boughey started training and his first full season could hardly have come at a more testing time.

Having taken the plunge to set up at Saffron Stables on Hamilton Road in Newmarket in the summer of 2019, Hugo Palmer’s former assistant managed a couple of winners in his first six months.

Not really anything to get excited about but last year he showed he is a young trainer going places.

He notched up 26 winners last year with a mixture of raw youngsters, shrewd buys and other trainers’ castoffs.

That success came at a healthy 20 per cent strike-rate and any punters putting a tenner on every Boughey runner would have ended the season with a healthy profit of more than £380 in their ‘sky rocket’.

It bodes well for the coming Flat season, with the likes of Mystery Angel, Songkran and Lostwithiel sure to be worth following.

 

Laura Pearson (Flat jockey)

The undoubted star of the summer in 2020 was Hollie Doyle.

Royal Ascot glory and Group 1 Champions’ Day success underlined her arrival as a top-class jockey. Now the go-to rider for many trainers, she will have inspired a generation of wannabe jockeys and racing will be on the look out for the next female riding sensation.

Being labelled ‘the next Hollie Doyle’ is, of course, grossly unfair but there are a clutch of talented female apprentice Flat jockeys that are sure to do well during 2021.

Laura Pearson tops that list. She has been most impressive on the all-weather this winter.

Visits to Lingfield, Kempton, Wolverhampton, Southwell and Newcastle are a fine grounding for any young rider and she has ridden winners at all five tracks. Only Chelmsford is needed to complete the set.

Take a look back at how @Laurapearson_ and YORKSHIRE PIRLO came from miles back to record a fantastic win here yesterday! pic.twitter.com/jOkXza46wp

— Southwell Racecourse (@Southwell_Races) December 18, 2020

She is becoming more and more polished and her 11 wins last month came from just 37 rides. That’s a strike-rate not even Hollie Doyle could match.

Based with Tom Clover, who came close to also making this list, Pearson is sure to lose her 7lbs claim in the coming weeks. That shouldn’t stop her progress into the main Flat season when she is sure to be in great demand.

 

Sam Thomas (Jumps trainer)

Sam Thomas will forever be associated with Denman.

The pair famously teamed up to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup and a clutch of big races including the Hennessy Gold Cup and the race that now bears his name at Newbury’s February meeting.

It’s hard to argue the transition from top jockey to trainer has been seamless. He failed to make it into the winners’ enclosure in his first season after starting up in 2015 and success hardly flowed when he did finally notch up his first victory.

It has taken a move to his current base just 15 minutes from Cardiff, backed by powerful owner Dai Walters, to show what he can do.

Last season Thomas managed six winners but he’s already doubled that tally this term and he looks to finally found a winning formula.

More success is likely in 2021 and, with Walters having a proven track record of owning top horses, it is surely only a matter of time before Thomas unearths a horse to take him to some of jump racing’s best prizes.

 

Liam Harrison (Jumps jockey)

It’s not all about instant success. Sometimes taking smaller steps, building up experience, is far more beneficial in the long run than making giant strides straight away before finding life is a little tougher than you first thought.

Liam Harrison is a case in point. He is conditional jockey at Fergal O’Brien’s in-form stable, learning his trade from experienced top-class jockey Paddy Brennan.

Having started off as an amateur he rode just the solitary victory in his first season and then booted home seven winners last season.

With the backing of O’Brien, now one of the most successful jumps yards in the country, Harrison has already bettered that tally and he has developed into one of the best 7lbs claimers.

The fruits of O’Brien’s careful management are now obvious and he is sure to be in demand in some of the top handicaps in the coming months.

If anyone needed proof they just need to watch a replay of Gortroe Joe’s all-the-way Market Rasen victory over Christmas. The ride of a jockey well worth the wait.

 

Edwardstone (hurdler)

My speculative bet on Edwardstone for the Unibet Champion Hurdle is not looking particularly promising after he was sent over fences for his most recent race.

Ever the optimist, there might still be a chance for him to throw his hat into the ring as he didn’t get very far in that Doncaster novices’ chase over Christmas and a return to hurdling would be far from daft at this stage of the season.

Wherever he goes I’m certain he is well handicapped. His run when fifth in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November on awful ground confirms that.

It’s only the ground that’s held him back. Alan King’s ace looked really promising last season when winning at Wincanton and Aintree and he was not disgraced when sixth behind Shishkin in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, again on soft ground, at the Cheltenham Festival.

When the ground dries out he should be ready to strike. If that were to happen in one of the top handicap hurdles on the horizon he should be a tasty bet.

 

Darlectable You (three-year-old filly)

There can be few better families outside of Coolmore’s all-powerful paddocks than the one Darlectable You hails from.

Her mother, Dar Re Mi, was pretty decent on the track winning the Pretty Polly Stakes, Yorkshire Oaks and the Dubai Sheema Classic.

That trio of Group 1 prizes is an impressive haul and she has turned out to be just as good at the Lloyd-Webber’s Watershipdown Stud.

She is the dam of triple Group 1 winner Too Darn Hot as well as smart fillies So Mi Dar and Lah Ti Dah.

Darlectable You is the next off the production line. In training with John Gosden, she made a most promising debut when runner-up behind experienced Godolphin runner Castlebar.

Rab Havlin never took his hands off the reins as Darlectable You stayed on in encouraging fashion over the 1m2f. It’s worth remembering Havlin partnered Enable on her debut at Newcastle and, while she has a long, long way to go to be mentioned in the same sentence as the dual Arc heroine, Darlectable You could easily develop into an Oaks contender.

Decisive! Castlebar puts his experience to good use and sees off some regally-bred newcomers under @the_doyler for Charlie Appleby at @NewcastleRaces pic.twitter.com/Obd52wCD9x

— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 1, 2020