WHEN does the flat season start? With the advent of all-weather racing in the UK, the line between the end of one season and the start of another has become blurred, while the lack of turf tracks willing to race in the immediate aftermath of Doncaster’s traditional curtain raiser means that fewer people recognise the Lincoln as the point of no return.

It’s a fair point that a season of turf racing on the flat requires a daily diet of the same, and for that reason Newmarket’s Craven meeting has eclipsed Town Moor as the most endorsed starting point for flat-racing aficionados. Now, of course, there is a new definition of the season in the UK, and it starts this Saturday, at least as far as the flat jockeys’ championship is concerned, and while that definition is not universally popular (including in these quarters), it does at least provide an unambiguous term by which achievements can be measured and set in context.