Cheltenham Festival tweaks won't make anywhere near enough difference if we refuse to tackle the elephant in the room

If you're in the right mood, it could be an amusing paradox that a sport called racing should be so very slow to actually do anything. Evidently, we like our speed to be carefully contained on the track. We certainly don't want anything resembling haste to leak into the official decision-making process.

So here we are, more than half a year on from the last Cheltenham Festival, our memories dulled by having digested almost an entire Flat season since then, something like 5,000 races having taken place in Britain alone. And only now do we get word about what changes will be made to jump racing's biggest week with the aim of restoring the old magic.

Of course, I understand why something like this might take time, so please spare me the pieties about needing to consult with a broad range of stakeholders. I'm losing patience with the idea of government by committee. It suggests that no-one actually has any good ideas or is willing to shoulder responsibility.