Best & Worst of 2011 / Editor / 20 December 2011 / 1

The BHA and BBC come in for stick while Frankel, Long Run and Kauto Star win the plaudits in part one of Timeform's best and worst of 2011.

Jamie Lynch - Chief Correspondent

Moment of 2011: 'But at the bushes Frankel is 15 lengths clear!' The tone of incredulity in commentator Ian Bartlett's voice as Frankel does something completely ridiculous in the Guineas.

Performance of 2011: Yes, he achieved a higher Timeform rating later in the season, and yes he'll run to an even higher (off the scale) rating in 2012, but for jaw-dropping, spine-tingling, mind-blowing drama, Frankel's performance in the Guineas was unparalleled in sport in 2011.

Hero of 2011: It takes a luminary to measure a superstar, and Excelebration is to Frankel what Frazier was to Ali, what Mickelson was to Tiger, or what Rafa is to Roger. For being a monster on the sly in his own right, but principally for playing his significant part in the Frankel phenomenon, Excelebration is my hero of the year.

Villain of 2011: The BBC. Not doing its job for sports. Very little racing coverage through 2011, and now they're giving half of the darts and F1 away.

Bet for 2012: Discourse in the 1000 Guineas. Godolphin won some of the best races for two-year-old fillies in 2011, and not even with their best two-year-old filly. While the awesome Discourse was nursing a minor injury, Lyric of Light was busy winning the May Hill and Fillies' Mile, but Discourse will be back in 2012 and she's already carrying my cash for the Guineas. Godolphin's traditionally slow start to the season may be a thing of the past courtesy of the new(ish) kid on the block - Mahmood Al Zarooni won the Guineas last year, don't forget.

Simon Rowlands - Head of Handicapping

Moment of 2011: Halfway in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket, at which point Frankel - 10 lengths clear of good but flat-to-the-board rivals - seemed to be not so much rewriting the history books as defying the laws of physics.

Performance of 2011: Take your pick of Frankel's 2000 Guineas, his Sussex Stakes or his Queen Elizabeth II Stakes. All of them were spectacular, but in different ways.

Hero of 2011: Racing for Change for disregarding the doom mongers and delivering British racing the Flat racing finale it deserved. With sectional timing, too!

Villain of 2011: Paul Roy, head of British racing's governing body the BHA, for failing to understand that he is part of the problem and not the solution.

Bet for 2012: Union Rags for the Kentucky Derby. He would have won the Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a better draw and a better "trip" and he won't have to improve much at all to be up to the standard of recent winners. His sire, Dixie Union, gained one of his biggest successes in the Haskell at just one furlong short of "the Durbee's" mile and a quarter.

Dan Barber - Jumps Editor

Moment of 2011: The head says Frankel's staggering rout in the 2000 Guineas, but the National Hunt heart sways things in the favour of the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Far removed from the Flat pattern of retiring horses when either in or approaching their prime, Gold Cup day in March saw the closest thing possible in racing terms to the sequential passing of the baton, with a pair of gallant older greats in Denman and Kauto Star emerging with tremendous credit in being upstaged by heir apparent Long Run. Competitive sport at its finest.

Performance of 2011: With the majority of judges - this one included - putting the finishing touches to his career epitaph, Kauto Star staged a Phoenix-like recovery when gaining revenge on Gold Cup conqueror Long Run in the Betfair Chase in November, producing a performance that epitomised what had first propelled him to the status as the best chaser of modern times on Timeform ratings. 'Kauto' is likely to lose the war, but this one battle was very much his.

Hero of 2011: So many options, both equine (notably Big Buck's) and human (honourable mention to Donald McCain), but lesser-known John Wade, whose support as owner, trainer and sponsor of jumps racing in the North has been even more staunch over the last twelve months.

Villain of 2011: Graham Cunningham's chosen villain (whoever said 'bozo' may be) is doubtless the more worthy winner in the wider picture, but amateur rider Sam Waley-Cohen, who would have been a contender in many lists for 'hero' following his Cheltenham Gold Cup success, produced a stunningly late and ultimately successful burst to head this list following his misguided and deceitful defence to riding a finish a circuit too soon at Fakenham earlier this week. If only he'd have temporarily swallowed his own tongue, rather than suggesting the horse had done the same.

Bet For 2012: The still improving mare Voler La Vedette to finally upset old rival Quevega in the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March at anything above [8.0].

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1. Graham | 22 December 2011

   Forget about Discourse, Ballydoyle are going to clean up in 2012, especially in the fillies 3yo division. Discourse won't live with Maybe, Kissed, Twirl, and the superstar of them all Wading.

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