Little interest in racing and even less inclination to cover it: a sobering insight into the modern-day newspaper sports desk

It has been a good start to the Flat season. Royal Ascot served up memorable action and, in Derby and Eclipse winner City Of Troy, racing looks to have a special talent to focus on. But don’t expect all that to be reflected in mentions the sport receives in the wider media and in the column inches of national newspapers.

The going has become pretty testing for racing and there is no easy answer as to how to change it. 

It has been a crowded few weeks with the Euros alongside the staples of cricket and Wimbledon and there is no chance of the agenda thinning. The Open is almost upon us, the Olympics are just around the corner and the start of the Premier League season just over a month away. That would make it a struggle for racing to elbow itself into the spotlight anyway. The struggle is compounded when the attitude towards it outside its core supporters is lukewarm.