bleungberg.com

It’s barely June, yet, 2009 is already turning out to be an above-average year for horse-racing fans.

From the top of my head, I can name at least half a dozen races which can be described as ‘memorable’.

There’s the epic Cheltenham Gold Cup (the best Gold Cup that Bleungberg has seen) between Kauto Star and Denman.

Also at Cheltenham, few will ever forget Tony McCoy’s amazing ride on Wichita Lineman in a spellbinding renewal of the Willian Hill Chase. The same pilot was also on board when driving home Hennessy to an unlikely victory in the bet365 Gold Cup.

On the level, there was Mine That Bird’s incredible run up the rails in the Kentucky Derby, followed by a near-miss in Preakness two weeks later when defeated by the gallant filly Rachel Alexandra.

Meanwhile, back on these shores, we had a thoroughly decent renewal of the 2000 Guineas in May, whose winner Sea The Stars then defied the statistics by landing a top-class Derby at Epsom on Saturday - the first horse to to the double since Nijinsky in 1970. Of course, just the day before, racegoers had been thrilled by a three-way photo-finish to the Coronation Cup.

Honestly, if foot-and-mouth were to intervene and cancels racing until January 2010, we still have a lot to look back upon.

But with the bulk of the racing year still to go, we could be in for a massive treat in the upcoming seven months. The only problem is that by the end of it, it could well be a near-impossible task to decide the race of the year.