THERE were a couple of issues arising out of Champions Day. The late off-times was one. The Champion Stakes went off almost 12 minutes late, and that is not good enough for a race that is of major international interest.

Part of the delay was down to Barney Roy initially being saddled with the incorrect saddlecloth, but the previous race, the QE2, scheduled for 3.15pm, actually went off at 3.23:41. That’s eight minutes and 41 seconds late.

And it was not ideal that racing took place on ground that was soft, soft to heavy in places and into a strong headwind. There is not a lot that you can do about the wind or the rain, but there is the contingent plan to race on the inside track.

On Thursday morning, the ground on the inside track was good to firm, firm in places, presumably because it was not watered during the summer. The decision to race on the main track was taken on Thursday morning, before declarations.

DECLARATIONS DELIBERATION

Presumably the thinking behind the timing of the decision is that it is taken before declarations, so that connections will know on what track they will be racing before they decide to declare. However, it would have been a brave call, to decide move to the inside track 48 hours before racing, even if the weather forecast was not great.

The facility to move to the inside track is a great facility to have, but perhaps the utilisation of that facility should be given a better chance.

Perhaps Ascot would need time to prepare the track, but is it really that important that a decision on which track racing will take place is taken before declarations? In America in inclement conditions, they move from turf to dirt at very short notice.