Small is beautiful - which is more than can be said for Del Boy's pyjamas

Newmarket is a bigger place than many realise, but visitors to the recent Henry Cecil Open Weekend were certainly made aware of its size if they tried to cram everything in – the Gosden yard, for instance, at the very end of the Bury Road to the east of the town, must be three miles from the Crisford yard, which is along the Hamilton Road to the west.

Thankfully, though, my official duties during the weekend were not quite as demanding on the legs this time.

For the past five years I have been part of the judging team for the best yard competition and we’ve always been split into two groups of four judges. With plenty of yards to get around – there were 24 open this year – that has often meant we were getting to the last one just before the ‘closed’ signs were going up.