NORTHERN racing has enjoyed a remarkable summer, featuring record-breaking victories, Group One triumphs and sky-high attendances in the sunshine.

As the Flat season draws to an end, and the winter days of Jumps racing approach, the column picks out the five best Northern Flat horses from 2018.

ALPHA DELPHINI (Bryan Smart)

Few would have had Alpha Delphini marked down as one of the stars of the summer when he started his campaign with a second-place finish in Musselburgh’s Class Two Borderlescott Sprint Trophy back in March.

His limitations had seemingly been exposed in the previous season, when he bombed out in both the Nunthorpe and Beverley Bullet before ending the campaign by picking up a pair of Class Three prizes.

It’s a long way from that form to Group One success in one of the world’s biggest sprint races, but Bryan Smart’s seven-year-old bridged the gap as he pulled off one of the sensations of the season by landing the Nunthorpe Stakes during York’s Ebor meeting at odds of 40-1.

Blazing out of the stalls, Alpha Delphini scorched away from odds-on favourite Battaash and successfully repelled a fast-finishing Mabs Cross to triumph by the shortest of margins after a nail-biting wait for a photo finish.

He will look to add another Group One success to his CV when he returns to action in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp this Sunday.

DEE EX BEE (Mark Johnston)

In terms of human flesh, Mark Johnston has been Northern racing’s star of the summer. The ‘Master of Middleham’ now boasts more winners than any other British trainer in history – a truly remarkable achievement given the lack of fanfare that accompanied his move to North Yorkshire more than three decades ago.

Johnston’s Kingsley House yard has had its usual steady stream of winners this year, but the best performance by one of its equine inmates probably came in defeat.

Dee Ex Bee marked himself out as a potential Derby candidate when he finished second in the Chester Vase, but while he performed creditably on the Roodee, his failure to get up ahead of Young Rascal resulted in him going off at odds of 20-1 for the Epsom classic.

He couldn’t quite master the excellent Masar, but was comfortably the best of the rest as he finished second, equalling Johnston’s best-ever performance in the Derby.

The rest of his campaign hasn’t quite gone to plan, although a runner-up spot in the Gordon Stakes at Glorious Goodwood was hardly an embarrassment and he battled away gamely to finish fourth in the St Leger.

He is set to finish his season with an outing in the Long Distance Cup on British Champions day at Ascot, and could well outrun his current price of 20-1.

LAURENS (Karl Burke)

Much was expected of Laurens in her three-year-old campaign, and Karl Burke’s filly has delivered in spades during a remarkably successful season.

Having triumphed in the Group One Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket last autumn, Laurens was a 7-1 shot when she returned to the Rowley Mile for May’s 1,000 Guineas.

She ran a blinder, finishing second to surprise winner, Billesdon Brook, and shaping as though a step up in trip would bring even more improvement.

That move to one mile two came in France, and after triumphing in the Prix Saint-Alary at Longchamp, Laurens achieved an even more notable victory when she landed the Prix de Diane Longines at Chantilly.

That set her up for a tilt at the Yorkshire Oaks, but the mile-and-a-half trip proved too much of a test. The decision was taken to revert to a mile in the Matron Stakes at Leopardstown, and despite the presence of Alpha Centauri in the field, Laurens displayed her typical grit and resolve to triumph at odds of 10-1.

Firmly established as one of the best fillies in training, Laurens is due to run in the Sun Chariot Stakes at Newmarket this weekend, and is also entered in the Fillies & Mares Stakes on Champions Day at Ascot.

MABS CROSS (Michael Dods)

Michael Dods has established quite a reputation for excelling with female sprinters, and having guided Mecca’s Angel to back-to-back wins in the Nunthorpe Stakes, the County Durham trainer could hardly have come closer to racking up a hat-trick of successes thanks to the efforts of Mabs Cross.

Only a four-year-old, Mabs Cross had been relatively lightly-raced during her three-year-old campaign, with her biggest victory coming in a Listed contest at Musselburgh.

The plan was always to step up in standard this year, and after finishing second in a Listed race at Bath, Mabs Cross served notice of her ability when she triumphed in the Palace House Stakes at Newmarket.

She recorded a pair of top-three finishes in the King’s Stand at Royal Ascot and Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh, and while she was unable to get back to winning ways in the Nunthorpe, her run on the Knavesmire was arguably the best of her career.

Finishing like a train, she went down to Alpha Delphini by a nose – plenty of observers thought the race should have been a dead-heat – and she will attempt to turn the tables when she lines up in the Prix de l’Abbaye at Longchamp this weekend.

SIGNORA CABELLO (John Quinn)

When Signora Cabello started her season by finishing fifth in a Class Five novice contest at Beverley, it is safe to say that the John Quinn-trained juvenile was hardly marked down as a star in the making.

A win next time out at Bath hinted at promise, and a follow-up success in a Listed contest at York earned the two-year-old a place in the Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Even so, Signora Cabello still started as a 25-1 shot when she lined up at the Royal meeting. By the time she finished the race, her odds looked utterly ridiculous.

Signora Cabello led a top-class field on a merry dance as she pulled off one of the shocks of the summer, pulling clear of the likes of Gossamer Wings, So Perfect and the strongly-fancied Chelsea Cloisters to claim Group Two honours.

She proved the win was no fluke when she followed up with another Group Two victory at Maisons-Laffitte, before producing arguably the best performance of her career as she finished a close second to Pretty Pollyanna in the Prix Morny at Deauville.

She wasn’t at her best last weekend, failing to land a blow in the Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket, but her three-year-old campaign promises to be hugely exciting, with the 1,000 Guineas a potential early-season target.