ONCE upon a time, a flatmate used to wonder and find amazement in the fact that, on a hot, summer Saturday afternoon, with the sun blazing down, (we did have such things once), you would find me in a darkened room watching three hours of television racing coverage.

National Hunt races seldom unfold to sunny backdrops but races like last Friday’s Gold Cup are treasures that you don’t receive very often. You can have any number of sunny afternoons, but how many will live in the memory like the Gold Cup we had last week?