IT was a year like no other.

No racing between March 16th and May 11th; prize money cuts for all except the smallest races, the most drastic reductions coming in Group 1 flat races where rewards fell by 40%; no spectators (or even owners) allowed for two months at the start of the summer and another month and a half from November; midsummer crowds restricted to 5,000 and October attendances, including for the Arc and the Auteuil showpieces, limited to 1,000.

The classics were put back by a month while, over jumps, the Grand Steeple-Chase and the Grande Course de Haies, eventually took place no less than five months late on October 18th.

Given the disrupted preparation that preceded them, it was hardly surprising that the Poule d’Essai des Poulains and Pouliches (2,000 and 1,000 Guineas) were even less relevant to the rest of the campaign than usual – neither race produced a single subsequent Group 1 scorer.

The best horse to come out of them was the Poulains runner-up, The Summit, who went on to grab a fine second place behind British raider Mishriff in the Prix du Jockey Club before being sold to Hong Kong.

The Prix de Diane was both the highest quality and most exciting classic as, following a steady pace, Fancy Blue, Alpine Star and Peaceful got home just in front of the best local, Raabihah, to notch a remarkable one-two-three for Ireland precisely 50 years after the solitary previous Irish Diane success.

Usually the pinnacle of France’s season, the 2020 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe was a pig’s ear of a contest, for a plethora of reasons, not least the sterile atmosphere of a semi-deserted ParisLongchamp .

Heavy ground robbed the event of the long-anticipated duel between the superfillies, Love and Enable, then a contaminated batch of Gain Horse Feeds caused the last minute withdrawal of all four remaining Aidan O’Brien runners.

Predictably, given that Ballydoyle so often ensures at least a solid gallop, the race was then run a snail’s pace.

Less predictably, Enable showed none of her usual verve and Sottsass, beaten in three of his four starts since his Arc third 12 months earlier, edged home in front of the fast-finishing In Swoop with the non-staying Persian King somehow managing to cling on for third.

The result meant that Jean-Claude Rouget landed his third trainers’ championship, though a stronger pace would surely have seen the first two places reversed and Francis Graffard crowned for the first time.

More than half of the nation’s 28 Group 1 prizes were exported, with just 12 home victories this time, to counter nine British triumphs, six from Ireland and Campanelle’s American success in the Prix Morny.

The Irish haul featured a memorable autumn double for Tarnawa, to give her trainer, Dermot Weld, his first French wins since Vinnie Roe in 2001 and take his overall record in France, which dates right back to 1973, to five victories – all in Groups 1s – from 99 runners.

Over jumps

The 2020 jump trainers’ title had François Nicolle’s name on it from a very early stage as his 300-plus string churned out the winners, though surprisingly not in the Grade 1 races – he had to wait until mid-November, and Moises Has winning the Prix Renaud du Vivier, for his solitary top level success. It was a third straight win for Nicolle, who trains on the Atlantic coast.

Similarly, the flat jockeys’ championship was only ever about one man, Pierre-Charles Boudot, who was never better in victory than he was in defeat aboard Persian King in the Arc.

He put an exclamation mark on the end of a brilliant season with a double at the Breeders’ Cup, both on spare rides and from wide draws, to take his Group/Grade 1 tally for the year to a round dozen.

PCB has now surely overhauled his old adversary Christophe Soumillon as the top French-based jockey.

The battle between the leading jump riders has been tighter. However, despite missing the last 15 days of the year because of a suspension for taking the wrong course at Auteuil, the 20-year-old Angelo Zuliani, Nicolle’s main lieutenant, looks to have built up a big enough lead over Clement Lefebvre to ensure his first Cravache d’Or (Golden Whip).