SITTING in the Jockey Rooms in Newmarket last year finishing up our pudding, Sir Mark Prescott and I got to discussing the paintings that hang in the glorious dining room. “Which is your favourite?” I asked him. “That one of Tod Sloan,” he replied, launching into a history lesson of why Sloan was one of his heroes. “He was the first to ride short and in two years changed jockeyship entirely in a way that had the same impact as talkies on the film industry.”

Cut to lunch in The Irish Field staff canteen last week discussing times and speed as we tucked into our soup, the question came to me as to whether racehorses have got faster over the generations and what factors may have influenced that either way? Everything Horse Sense is concerned with may have had a factor: husbandry, riding, tracks, veterinary - all must impact upon the ability of the racehorse to move faster. And breeding of course, the evolution of the racehorse is in the hands of the breeders, it’s a man-made animal to all intents and purposes. Designed to run, as the Mercedes is designed to drive, so is it getting better as time ticks on?