Sun Chariot heroine Saffron Beach enhancing profile of sire New Bay

There are loads of factors that go into winning horseraces, and depending on your own personal view some will take precedence over others. For example, I’ve made it clear enough over the years that I’m not into minutiae like draws and ground that have an effect on every race but are extremely difficult to quantify before it.

There are two factors in every race that go underappreciated by many – the importance of jockeys and pedigrees. The number of times I hear racing fans say jockeys don’t make that much difference to a horse’s chance stupefies me.

Of course, jockeys can’t make horses run faster but they can 100 per cent make them run slower, and to suggest there isn’t a pecking order of ability among people who ride horses seems completely barmy.