'We've had to up our game' - how owners are being kept involved during lockdown

Zoom calls, FaceTime videos, best-dressed-at-home competitions and ITV interviews in their living rooms. This has been the new normal for Britain's racehorse owners since racing resumed on June 1. For now, the old normal of seeing their horses in the flesh has been taken away.

With racecourse access restricted to key personnel only, the people paying the bills to keep the horses running have been left outside the closed doors. At least it has been an egalitarian shutout: from sheikhs to syndicate members, no-one has been allowed in.

There is frustration among owners, but few complaints, and novel ways have been found to keep them engaged and entertained. Some of those novelties might even have the knock-on effect of improving the ownership experience, and racing's appeal, in the longer term.