THE highlight of 2010 was the fantastic victory for Oxford’s Freedom Emma in the £6,000 William Hill Oaks at Wimbledon.

It was an emotional night for owner Ed Locke-Hart and trainer Richard Yeates as both wanted to win the bitches’ classic the previous year after the death of Ed’s father, Stuart.

Emma, beaten in a photo-finish in 2009, duly put the record straight and gave connections and Oxford a giant boost.

It was a year that saw 11 of the 17 trainers at Oxford break the 100-winner mark, with Mich-ael Peterson, Angie Kibble and the now departed Paddy Curtin well over the 200-mark.

Peterson, champion trainer for the second year running, was involved in a tense battle for ten months of the year with Curtin until his move to Monmore in October resulted in Peterson being handed the title on a plate.

Curtin was replaced by Richard Baker, who arrived from Harlow.

The year got off to a bad start when bad weather, similar to what we have suffered recently, claimed five meetings.

Leading owner Max Picinelli, who split from Oxford trainer Tony Magnasco, enjoyed his finest moment when Lyreen Mover, who had been kennelled at Magnasco’s base, reached the William Hill Derby final for Hungarian handler Gabor Tenezel.

The track record over 450m was broken when Up For Sam posted 26.20secs in the heats of the Stadium Bookmakers Trafalgar Cup.

But in the final, Stans Printer took full advantage of the better going on the outside on a very wet night to upstage the record-breaker.

The Tech-Shop UK Maiden Derby went to the Andy Heyes-trained northern raider Bowtime Lefty.

The Pall Mall was moved to June to fill the Sky slot that had been earmarked for the Cesarewitch.

William Hill dropped their sponsorship, but Stan James came to the rescue.

Trafalgar Cup winner Stans Printer and local hope Jolly Poacher crashed out in heat two, as did defending champ-ion Drink Up Zorro and 2009 runner-up Brickfield Class.

Chris Allsopp guided Ballymac Ace to glory in the final, but there was a blow for the connections of Anagram, who suffered serious injuries.

Next came the Cesarewitch,where defending champion He Went Whoosh stormed to victory in his semi-final along with Kinda Easy.

However, it was Sean Cahill’s Hove runner Raving Black, who claimed the honours in the decider with a smart 39.30.

More recently, the frost covers from Newbury racecourse saved the meeting on Boxing Day when overnight temperatures of -10C couldn’t stop the biggest meeting of the year.