Never mind the price of the beer - kids go racing for nothing and that's worth a lot

It came as no great surprise to read in the Racing Post this week that beer prices at major race meetings are broadly on a par with other big sporting events. Anybody who ventures out of their front door on even an occasional basis will have discovered that if you go somewhere worth going to, you have to pay for it, one way or another.

Go to a restaurant and look at the wine list, and you'll find that the bottle you could have for a tenner at the off-licence will set you back at least 30 quid. It's how venues make money and survive. It's real life.

What you have to do as a venue, as our man Tom Park pointed out, is to make sure the paying public come away feeling satisfied. If I go to that same restaurant and come away feeling as though I had a good night, I won't notice the eye-watering bill too much; if the steak's gristly and the waiter's an imbecile, it'll feel expensive.