As the curtain closes on the Flat season of 2024, we have seen several outstanding moments from our favourite equine performers. Some have been models of consistency throughout the season and others have shocked us with stand-out performances.

Our list looks at the best moments of the Flat season of 2024.

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Standout performers

When looking at the best performers of the season, three horses jump out for their level of consistency across the season, which has seen them landing lucrative prizes and proving themselves as the best in their respective divisions, displaying several of the best moments of the Flat season.

City Of Troy

Undoubtedly the star performer of the year is Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy.

Starting his campaign in the 2000 Guineas he disappointed but it’s since become clear that wasn’t his true running, bouncing back in his next appearance to take out the Group One Epsom Derby in a dominant performance.

He strengthened his claim as the star three-year-old performer when recording victories in the Group One Eclipse at Sandown and Group One Juddmonte International at York, beating a fellow cast of three-year-olds as well as his elders. A truly sparkling campaign.

He’s headed to Del Mar for the Breeders’ Cup Classic where he is 6/4 to make history and win.

Bluestocking

If you’d have told any racing fan at the beginning of the season that Ralph Beckett’s filly Bluestocking was to win this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, it would have seemed almost unbelievable.

Since winning on debut as a two-year-old, it’s clear she was talented but couldn’t seem to get her head in front, in what was a frustrating three-year-old season. Finally, she did on seasonal reappearance in May in a Group Two at York, scoring comfortably by six lengths before following up in the Group One Pretty Polly at Curragh, proving herself as the best female horse in the UK.

She then stepped up again taking the Group One Prix Vermeille, proving herself against international before taking out the feature Group One Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe from several proven international Group One performers. What a season she’s had.

Kyprios

It’s impossible to talk about the best moments of the season without mentioning the dominant Kyprios, who is a flawless seven out of seven this season.

Earning his place amongst the best stayers of all time, Kyprios upped his count of Group One victories to eight after four Group One victories this year and has proved himself to be the best stayer in the UK and Ireland over the last couple of years.

His roll of honour this year features the Group One Ascot Gold Cup, Group One Doncaster Cup, Group One Irish St. Leger, Group One Prix Cadran as well as a victory in the Group Two Long Distance Cup at Ascot Champions’ Day to cap off his season.

Porta Fortuna

The Donnacha O’Brien trained Porta Fortuna has emerged as the leading three-year-old filly.

Just beaten in the 1000 Guineas after coming from a disadvantaged track position, she then went on a run of three Group One victories.

The first coming at Royal Ascot when winning the Coronation from Opera Singer, she then followed up at Newmarket when successful in the Falmouth before completing a prolific campaign with a dominant victory of the Matron Stakes at Irish Champions Weekend.

Another horse headed to Del Mar in two weeks’ time, she is 4/1 for the Breeders’ Cup mile.

Standout moment

Goliath

Arguably the best performance of the year was Goliath’s rout of the Group One King George at Ascot, where he was victorious by over two lengths despite jockey Christophe Soumillon celebrating as he crossed the line!

Drawing alongside his leading rivals two furlongs out, he picked it up before displaying a devastating turn of foot to put the race full of worldwide Group One winners to bed with the eventual Arc winner Bluestocking behind in second!

The race earned him a Timeform rating of 128, the joint-highest rated horse in the world and it’s hard to disagree with the assessment. It’ll be fascinating to see where he goes next.

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Pocket52 Poker Sports League Season 5 – Bigger and Better Than Ever!

Posted by Laksh Pal Singh on 2023-08-23 at 9:41 PM

That was what the Poker Sports League management promised us this year, and that is exactly what was delivered. This edition of PSL was grand in many ways, and I’d first like to thank everyone who made this event possible.

Nitesh Salvi – founder and CEO of Pocket52, title sponsors of PSL, Pranav Bagai, Siddharth Mishra, and Prajit Gambhir, the three musketeers who started this wonderful concept of PSL and have worked endlessly over the last five years to grow this mind sport!

Prajit, you legend. God only knows how many roles you have at PSL! From being COO to the auctioneer to commentary to ensuring that the show goes on every single time, big shoutout to you, brother, and to Vidur also for making sure every pre-show and every stream was super smooth. Sid and his production team, wow, man, I don’t even know what to say. You guys are so good at what you do! This year the production team of PSL has really outdone themselves. From every reel to every Instagram story to every update, I have to say the content was fabulous.

Obviously couldn’t have done it without your ever-so-talented team! Dashank, Madhur, and Pandey Ji, big shoutout to the three of you for doing such a great job and just being awesome people in general. I’m really fond of the entire PSL team and of course the man himself, the mastermind Pranav Bagai for making this happen on Jio Cinema- working day in and day out to achieve his vision for poker in India.

I want to thank all the owners for supporting this league every single year and spreading their love and passion for poker. This league would not be possible without you!

The Experience

Pocket52 PSL Season 5 was something else only. Everyone together on land in the same resort under the same roof, with no hassle of going onto the ship, everyone bonding and interacting.

Personally, for me, the highlight was interacting with the qualifiers from all teams, it’s really nice to talk with someone when you know they look up to you and whatever you’re saying has an impact on them.

It was really heartwarming to meet the Massani brothers, these boys were the heroes of PSL, and that’s another story to tell. Taking a domestic flight for the first time, these two brothers have come from Bhopal and won all our hearts. What gems of human beings, so much confidence, so much energy, I just loved it, to be honest. I had a great time with all my friends and all the other captains who I’m so close to off the felts!

The competition was heavy, and everyone was so passionate and into it. So yeah, GG to my boys – Dirty (Dhaval Mudgal) and Shardul (Parthasarathi) for also taking podium finishes, I had already told Shardul I was going see him heads up and win this time.

Big shoutout to Gaurav Sood, one of the best poker players in India, for playing the finale like an absolute boss man and ensuring I’m shitting myself on the rails while he’s reducing the chip deficit. Love you, Mozzie unlucky one, and you’ll be back stronger we all know it.

Shoutout to Romit (Advani) and Vaibhav (Sharma) for being fantastic team leaders- you win some, you lose some, and I am sure we will see you guys in the top 3 next season!

Now coming to my team, oh man, I don’t think I’ve ever felt such a sense of comradery and team spirit in my life. PSL adrenaline just hits differently. I’ve played a lot of tournaments in my life and hit a lot of one-outers for big money, but I’ve never jumped the way PSL made me jump and shout and scream, and it’s a different kind of excitement altogether.

Bringing a team format and making an individual sport a team game is honestly a genius concept! I would like to thank my team owners, Mr Puneet Mehra, Mehul Shah, and Rishi, for trusting me to lead this team again despite a not-so-great performance the previous year. Special shoutout to their families as well, Toral ma’am Divyansh and Prerna, for cheering on the Mumbai team and making sure our rail was the loudest and full of energy. Really happy that Mehul and Rishi also came down and really felt it with the team and were involved and there from start to finish.

Speaking about my team, I want to say I’m so proud of you guys – every point earned by each of you was crucial to us winning and reaching the finale. I remember the day we reached Goa and had our first team meeting, I was really impressed with Puneet sir because he gave a really inspirational team talk on Day 1 itself, which had a big impact on our team. I have to say one thing about my team, though, everyone was really into it, The togetherness and team spirit was really evident, and I think from Day 1, we manifested the win when we took that picture near the trophy.

Humaara wildcard kaisa ho, Alok Birewar jaisa ho! I think the best decision I made this PSL, other than my obvious retentions of Akshay Nasa and Honey Bijlani, was to sign Alok as my wildcard. I knew Alok wouldn’t do it for the money; he wanted to play PSL, he loves strategizing, he was railing every table every tournament, his team spirit was unparalleled, and the best in the league, so kudos bro I’m proud of you, and you did a great job.

Akshay Nasa, my player, said I am born ready when I asked him if he was going to play the finale. Our strategy was simple, get 250 BB in the finale, send Nasa, and ship it!! Shoutout to Ankit, our 2nd pro, for a great performance joining Nasa in the finale, and also getting the ever so-crucial points in the live MTT, but also for declaring that we’ve won before the league even started.

Honey Bijjlani, for doing more work than the captain, bhai this team would not have won without you, I openly state that you are going to be retained every year for Mumbai Anchors. Nitin Gulati for his passion for this team, getting merchandise and hoodies made for the entire team, thank you, bhai! Simran Malhotra, my fellow Pocket52 team pro, for never disappointing me, for being the number 1 woman player of the league, and for her spirit and love for the team.

Dhirendra Kumar and Avinash Tauro for being on top of things, speaking to the new boys, railing watching the stream making notes, top top performance guys. And of course the new boys Shravan and Nikaas, who I couldn’t believe, played live poker for the first time. They both killed it and got super important points for the team. Every single point contributed by each of you was crucial to this team’s success.

It was a rollercoaster of three days, with ups and downs and highs and lows; the excitement and energy were high, and it was the best three days of my life. Humne bahut chipkaaya, 3 straight days chipkaaya, but you gotta spike to ship, and there was no way Mumbai was not winning this season. Also, a big shoutout to my first mentor and dear friend Sahil Mahboobani for top-notch performance and taking down the Player of the Series, so happy for you, bro!

Lifting that trophy was a great feeling and something that’ll stay with me for life, I hope to recreate many more memories with PSL and Mumbai Anchors!

GG everyone, until next time!

Aaamchiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii Mumbaiiiiiiii