WE could have had a very different Ascot Gold Cup if the rains had come 24 hours earlier than they did. Princess Zoe might have done even better than she did, for starters.

Tony Mullins’ mare ran a remarkable race to finish second on ground that was surely way faster than ideal for her. And, if the rains had come 24 hours earlier than they did, or if the Gold Cup had been run on the Friday instead of on the Thursday, Trueshan would surely have run in the race. And we just don’t know how he would have fared.