Sunday Review: Racing Post Annual 2025 the perfect Christmas gift for every racing fan

A deeper insight into 50 megastars from jump racing

Immortals: The Story Behind 50 Great National Hunt Horses by Oli Hein
£25, published by Pitch Publishing

Trying to recount the careers of 50 'immortals' from the world of jump racing in one go is an ambitious undertaking, but author Oli Hein comes up trumps with a book that is not only effortless to consume but also takes the reader on an informative journey through the narrative of National Hunt.

Similar to his previous book Punch A Hole In The Wind, Hein's focus is on the equine stars, but in telling the individual stories of 50 all-time greats, readers are introduced to an array of trainers, owners, breeders and jockeys who shaped each of their high-achieving careers.

The author does not waste his words, cramming some serious detail into each seven-page chapter, but at the same time manages to capture the magnitude of the occasion and the accompanying emotions.

Written in a way that allows the reader to choose which horse to read about next, it also runs chronologically and if consumed in a more orthodox manner (ie. from beginning to end) it cleverly charts the evolution of jump racing over the past 130 years (for better and for worse).

Immortals: The Story Behind 50 Great National Hunt Horses

It's written with humour at times, but there are also chapters that will leave readers crestfallen, the demise of One Man at Aintree after he had finally conquered at the Cheltenham Festival being a poignant example.

"Brian Harding was inconsolable and in tears for hours, Gordon Richards was to receive a consoling letter from the Queen Mother and John Hales had likewise been in floods, speechless and devastated," writes Hein.    

It is perhaps the pivotal moments in the sport which this book does best. The neighbouring chapters on Sea Pigeon, Night Nurse and Monksfield, for example, blend into one and take readers to the heart of what is often remembered as the 'golden era' of two-mile hurdlers, while the interlinking entries on Best Mate, Kicking King, Kauto Star and Denman remind us that it was not long ago that true heavyweights reigned in the staying chase division.

Even more captivating is the period through the mid-1960s when Mil House (The Big Horse), Arkle (Himself) and Flyingbolt (Nutty) all staked their claim to the mantle of 'greatest jumps horse of all time'.

What a time that would have been to be alive but, for those of us who arrived too late, Immortals does a fine job of bringing all the magic back to life.
Lewis Porteous

Immortals: The Story Behind 50 Great National Hunt Horses is available to buy here

An essential Christmas stocking filler

Racing Post Annual 2025, edited by Nick Pulford
£19.99, published by Pitch Publishing

This has truly been the year of Willie Mullins. Champion trainer in Ireland, champion trainer (far more extraordinarily) in Britain, and his remarkable achievements are the only place to start the Racing Post Annual.

It actually speaks volumes for the number of remarkable stories we have had in 2024 that Mullins can’t have the front cover entirely to himself, but he is the centrepiece of a striking array of stars dubbed ‘Racing’s Olympians’ who have lit up this fabulous year.

Racing Post Annual 2025

However, I can’t imagine Nick Pulford, who has done his usual terrific job in editing the annual, has had too many more straightforward decisions than kicking off the usual glorious collection of articles looking back at 2024 with the story of Mullins becoming the first Irish trainer in 70 years to win the British jump trainers’ championship.

Richard Forristal goes back eight years to place Mullins’ achievement into context. Back then, as Forristal recalls, Mullins had come within £100,000 of winning the British title, without having a runner even placed in the Grand National, proving beyond all doubt that it could be done, only to almost instantly have the rug pulled out from under his feet when Gigginstown, then champion owners in Britain and Ireland, removed 60 of his best horses.

Forristal goes on to set the scene for the key race in Mullins’ title success, the Grand National victory of I Am Maximus, and goes on to bring the subsequent drama to life in vivid detail as Mullins claimed the Scottish National with Macdermott and secured the championship on the final day of the season at Sandown.

It’s a wonderful piece of writing, magnificently presented, with shorter essays on other stories from the same period, such as the retirement of the previous National hero Corach Rambler, all accompanied by stunning photography from the Racing Post’s Edward Whitaker and Patrick McCann.

It’s a microcosm of what this annual is about. So many key events are covered, from glorious wins at the Cheltenham Festival through to the big Flat highlights such as City Of Troy, Bluestocking and Kyprios, all of them packed with colour and insight, bringing back memories that will last a lifetime of the very best this incredible sport has given us in the last 12 months. Now in its 14th year, the annual has become a staple for all racing fans at this time of year.
Dylan Hill

The Racing Post Annual is available to buy here at the discounted price of £15

A monumental epitaph to Britain's lost courses

Strongholds of Satan: Volume Three by William Morgan
£90 hardback

It takes a man as notably patient with his horses as Sir Mark Prescott – who has contributed the foreword – to fully understand the devotion that William Morgan has poured into researching these magnificent histories of Britain's bygone racecourses. This is volume three of Strongholds of Satan, covering the Midlands, and the fourth and final volume on the North and Scotland is on its way.

Strongholds of Satan, Volume III, The Midlands

Forty years in the making, these are monumental works and much more than just a painstaking gathering of information as every page is full of life, vividly capturing aspects of racing that have long disappeared.

There is the tale of Aston Park, close to where Aston Villa FC's ground now stands, which lasted for one meeting only in 1855 and ended when the majority of the 18,000 crowd "armed with the posts from the course" fought a pitched battle that continued into the town.

There are the many historic photos, including one from 1897 of the fashionable course at Northampton where they raced in the heart of the town until the track, which is now a park, was closed in 1904 for safety reasons.

Racing at Northampton, right in the centre of the town

Aerial photos, taken from a drone, reveal the locations of where courses once stood, including at Kington, Herefordshire, 1,000ft up on Offa’s Dyke, with steep gradients on all sides, last raced on 150 years ago but still there.

If you haven't started collecting these volumes then get cracking. Volume one, on the South-East, is now available through the author's Mainholm Press for £75 and volume two, on the South-West and Wales, for £80. You will not be disappointed.
John Cobb

Available at mainholmpress.co.uk or by phone to 01576 510347 or 07703 114134 or by email to william@mainholmpress.co.uk or by post to The Old Farmhouse, Mainholm, Hoddom, Lockerbie, DG11 1AN

A valuable insight into professional punting

The work of a professional tipster can boil down to a single pick but behind the scenes there is no end to the research undertaken.

Months of form studying, race rewatching and bookmaker scouring can often go unnoticed but Life On The Trail endeavours to shine a light on this process by charting a single jumps season through the eyes of Andy Gibson. 

Gibson, a professional punter for The Cheltenham Trail syndicate, provides us with a complete collection of analysis, tips, trends and previews from last season’s jumps campaign, alongside the tales of several members of the syndicate.

Gibson has been betting since the late 1970s and brings an abundance of knowledge to his work, which serves not only as a valuable recap of last season's exploits but is also packed with information to aid any aspiring punter. 

Alongside bets for the season's major races, Gibson also supplies his ante-post selections and a wealth of email updates to members, resulting in a complete overview to half a year's worth of professional work, interspersed with punting advice.

Last term's results may be done and dusted but there is valuable insight to be gleaned from Gibson's work in the winter months ahead. A copy of Life On The Trail is a surefire way to improve your punting game.
Catherine Macrae

Life On The Trail by Andy Gibson is available to buy here

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