IT can be both a humbling and entertaining exercise to review the predictions made around this time of year with a view to the coming 12 months. Before looking into the crystal ball for 2026, a quick word on this column last year when nominating names to note for 2025.

You might think it was an extremely shrewd piece of predicting to put forward Ethical Diamond as a “well-handicapped horse” heading into the new year. Unfortunately, I was referring to his hurdles mark of 132!