He has a superstar quality and racing needs Murphy to make a full recovery and come back even better. Hopefully it is only his reputation and not his ability that finds itself waning at the start of 2022. 

Horse-wise Stradivarius, the three time Gold Cup winner, has to be slowing up a bit now and John Gosden and Frankie Dettori will do well to eke another Group One out of him while the vast thoroughbred empire of the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum, who died in 2021, will race on with the likes of the QEII winner Baaeed but, numbers-wise, at a very moderate level with horses in training expected to be in double figures rather than three figures.  

Which stars are on the rise?

On the Flat Marco Ghiani, the latest in a long line of young Italians forging their careers in Britain, looked to be going places when he won the Apprentice title in 2021. He has made some good contacts and has ridden nearly 100 winners in the calendar year. He can progress in 2022.

On the training front Dave Loughnane had a good year. From a standing start five years ago it has not taken him long to work his way on to the top table with a couple of runners at the Breeders’ Cup in November and the backing of Amo Racing. He looks likely to keep up the strong gallop.

Over jumps jockey Charlie Deutsch continues to impress. Obviously as first jockey to Venetia Williams his fortunes are very much tied in with the trainer’s but I could see a few more big races coming his way in 2022 while Bridget Andrews, wife of Harry Skelton, could end up being the star female jump jockey of the season now that her brother-in-law is training a better class of horse.

On the training front Sam Thomas, who rode Denman to win a Gold Cup, is making great strides in South Wales and saw out 2021 with his bigger winner, Iwilldoit, in the Coral Welsh National.

Hottest ticket in 2022

June 3 Derby Day at Epsom. Since it was first run in 1780, it is fair to say the Derby has seen better days when the East End of London used to empty on a Wednesday as everyone walked to Epsom. It certainly has not been racing’s hottest ticket for some while even though winning it remains a great stallion-making race and last year’s winner, Adayar, did its reputation no harm and proved himself a bit more than a one-hit wonder when he went on to win the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

Whether or not the Queen has a runner – the possibilities are Reach For The Moon or, a slightly longer shot, Educator – it will be the main day time activity on the Saturday of her Platinum Jubilee weekend.

Being the focus of those celebrations is just the sort of boost the race could do with and, well, were the Queen to have a fancied runner then that would just add to the excitement as, having won the 1,00 Guineas, 2,000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger, it remains the only Classic she has yet to win. That would be the ultimate. She has always said the Derby is the race above all others she would like to win.

A looming crisis in the sport is…

After spending most of the year trying to sweep it under the carpet it is now all about how the British Horseracing Authority deals with the fallout from the bullying case in which Robbie Dunne received an 18 month suspension for his bullying of fellow jockey Bryony Frost.

Of course it is a pity it got as far as the Independent Disciplinary Panel in front of which a lot of racing’s dirty washing was very publicly aired. But it probably had to happen if the industry was going to make the changes necessary to bring it into the 21st century and make it aware that societal expectations and norms have changed.

All racing stakeholders have agreed to set up a working party – we now have more working parties on the go than there were in the Siberian salt mines during Soviet times – and come up with a robust code of conduct in the spring which is communicated, explained and understood. 

There is an argument that if the BHA cannot look after the welfare of people who work in the industry, how can it possibly be expected to look after the welfare of its horses. On that front this is the year of the whip review, a subject just as likely to split the industry as under as Frost and Dunne. Like all modern arguments there will be the diametrically opposed; those for it, those against it and not much middle ground.

After a public consultation, ending in September, to which 2,000 people responded (as a lot of those were in the industry it begs the question ‘does the public really care?), it is now out to focus groups and the Whip Consultation Steering Group (working party?) will consider what to do from out-right ban (unlikely) to tweaking current rules to changing the name of the whip which has such a negative vibe. 

At some stage in 2022 this will be all we are talking about. My money-saving suggestion that we call it a ‘feather duster’ and have done with it seemed to fall on stony ground.