Another three winners for Derek O’Connor saw him edge closer to the magic 1,000 mark (only seven to go) and it was particularly cheering to see that one of them was for Rosemary Rooney. It seems that many of the young brigade do not realise that Rosemary was champion rider in 1977, the last lady rider to hold the title. Having turned her hand to training she enjoyed a fair deal of success but it is quite a while since she last visited the winner’s berth so it was especially memorable to witness the win of Battle Dust.

Rosemary and her sister Ann both rode a considerable number of winners as befits the daughters of the great Willie Rooney who held the career record for so long. But while on the subject of great lady riders, as so often is the case, history gets obscured by the memories of the present generation.