Crisis that rocked racing: what the key players did over a remarkable 24 hours

It was on the 4.48pm to London Waterloo that British racing first discovered it had caught the flu.

David Sykes was one of the passengers on that train, heading away from Kempton Park station, when he heard the news. Brant Dunshea was on a platform at Clapham Junction, Nick Rust was in his car and Donald McCain, a figure unluckily central to this story, was in a petrol station on the A49.

That Wednesday afternoon McCain had been travelling back from Ludlow, where Dry Lightening contested the track's maiden hurdle. Prior to being declared on Tuesday morning the horse was scoped, as has been McCain's recent policy. A clean bill of health was given. All was not right, however, with three other members of the team.