I AM one of the biggest fans of Royal Ascot, a meeting that is second to none in my opinion. It brings together the best horses in these islands, and increasingly over recent years from further afield, thanks to the great work and many air-miles put in by Nick Smith. It is the venue where stallion careers are mapped out, and a victory at the royal meeting is truly a success never to be forgotten.

How sad it is that this year’s renewal has, of necessity, had to be held behind closed doors, and with a number of the meeting’s potential stars on the track missing. This is due not just to travel restrictions, but also to the vastly changed racing programme that will see races such as the Derby and Oaks held this year after Royal Ascot. The huge disruption to the early season two-year-old calendar also had a detrimental knock-on effect on the fields this week.