'Innovative' or 'stupid' - is it time for a radical overhaul of the Flat season?

The season has not yet reached its halfway stage, yet Flat racing's showpiece event is already a month in the past.

There is still a great deal to anticipate but as we gallop into midsummer there is also much that is now confined to history. As night fell over Epsom on the opening Saturday of June, four of Britain's five Classics were behind us. That was not quite the case last year, when sadness at the completion of Royal Ascot was tempered by knowing the Derby and Oaks lay ahead in early July. Some feel we should return to our recent past.

It was as a result of the coronavirus that the Flat scene looked so different in 2020. Following a lengthy shutdown, the British season finally kicked off on June 1. A few days later, Newmarket played host to the opening Classics of the year, with Kameko and Love winning the 2,000 and 1,000 Guineas, both delayed by five weeks. Inevitably also held back were the two mile-and-a-half Classics, which were rearranged to their latest ever date on July 4.