Bart and Gai hold sway

The two most recognisable racehorse trainers in the country ended the year equal at the top of the Group One table on seven apiece.Bart Cummings and Gai Waterhouse are names that transcend their chosen profession and bring racing to the attention of those who might not otherwise be interested.The effervescent Waterhouse is also a fashion leader with a passion to get people back to the racetracks for the party as well as the sport.Cummings' legendary status is known worldwide through his 12 Melbo

The two most recognisable racehorse trainers in the country ended the year equal at the top of the Group One table on seven apiece.

Bart Cummings and Gai Waterhouse are names that transcend their chosen profession and bring racing to the attention of those who might not otherwise be interested.

The effervescent Waterhouse is also a fashion leader with a passion to get people back to the racetracks for the party as well as the sport.

Cummings' legendary status is known worldwide through his 12 Melbourne Cup wins and more than five decades at the highest level with just a couple of hiccups in between.

For Waterhouse, 2010 was a time to regather and get back to basics with the stated objective of finding the right sort of horse to win a Melbourne Cup.

That wasn't to be, but Waterhouse capped her year with her first Caulfield Cup with Descarado, purchased as a tried horse in New Zealand, long a rich hunting ground for stayers.

The year was a mixed bag for Cummings whose health made more headlines than his horses.

A lifetime asthmatic, Cummings was hospitalised in April with a respiratory ailment and was absent from the autumn carnival.

He spent much of the winter at home and ventured back to the races in late August. On the last Saturday of that month, he watched on television as So You Think began his spring campaign with victory in the Memsie Stakes.

Cummings declared both he and his star horse, who had also missed the autumn, were back.

But just a couple of days later Cummings was back in hospital after breaking his pelvis in a fall at his home. A frailer looking Cummings made it back in time to celebrate So You Think's second Cox Plate victory but a colder than normal Melbourne spring took its toll and he was back on the sick list with a recurrence of the chest complaint.

So You Think claimed his fourth Group One of the season in the Mackinnon Stakes in the absence of Cummings but the trainer was determined to be at Flemington three days later for the Melbourne Cup.

"They wouldn't open the gates without him would they?" fellow trainer Mark Kavanagh asked.

Cummings made it to the Cup, So You Think lined up as favourite but the party was spoiled by French horse Americain who showed superior staying prowess to record a famous victory.

So You Think was a gallant third but in the hours following the race it emerged a controlling share had been sold to Irish racing conglomerate Coolmore, apparently without Cummings' knowledge.

He was devastated when he learned the black horse would do his future racing in Europe and publicly proclaimed his despair.

But by December, a more robust looking Cummings had regained his health and his sense of humour.

"I'm feeling good now," he said.

"It's how you get up that counts.

"I'm still up and I'm still going."

Snapping at the heels of Cummings and Waterhouse were Peter Moody and Chris Waller who both rose to new highs in 2010.

Moody dominated the Melbourne premiership and Typhoon Tracy's four Group One wins gave her the Horse of the Year title.

Waller gave Sheikh Mohammed's Australian trainer Peter Snowden a run for his money in the battle for the Sydney title with Waterhouse languishing in third.

Waller's position in Australian racing was cemented with his wins at the highest level including Rangirangdoo in the Doncaster and Pressday in the TJ Smith Classic, both ridden by Nash Rawiller, stable rider for Waterhouse and once again the country's leading Group One jockey.

The triumph and tragedy of racing was wrapped into one - jockey Stathi Katsidis.

A rider of immeasurable talent with an often troubled past, Katsidis was on the crest of a wave with a settled home life, a Brisbane premiership and Group One wins on Shoot Out, one of the leading contenders of the spring carnival.

But suddenly and inexplicably, Katsidis died at his home just a few days before the Cox Plate and his loss was felt around the country.

Of the many notable moments on the track, one that brought many hardened racegoers to their feet was the All-Aged Stakes win of Hot Danish.

Beaten by Melito in the TJ Smith Stakes a couple of weeks earlier to record yet another Group One placing, Hot Danish finally got her reward on her home track of Randwick.

Her trainer Les Bridge has won a Melbourne Cup and a Golden Slipper but declared nothing had given him such a thrill.

While the loss of So You Think was tinged with sadness that perhaps we hadn't seen the best of him, the sale of Starspangledbanner to Coolmore was met with more enthusiasm.

The colt showcased Australian sprinters with victory in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot and the prestigious July Cup at Newmarket prompting his trainer Aidan O'Brien to declare him the fastest horse he had ever trained.

Late in the year, perhaps the fastest horse Moody has ever trained gained her first Group One at Flemington when Black Caviar demoralised her opponents to win the Patinack Farm Classic.

Other stellar performances included Wanted's Newmarket Handicap win in freak weather unprecedented at Flemington, Toorak Toff's performance against the pattern of racing to win the Golden Rose, Zipping's victory in the Turnbull Stakes and New Zealander Lion Tamer's comprehensive staying performance in the Victoria Derby.