Big names get first taste of racing's new normal as Kempton makes smooth start

This was not the first time Kempton has felt like a ghost town. Just ask anyone who has braved winter’s chill to visit an evening meeting in the depths of January. But it was something entirely unique.

It may have been raceday but the cast-iron gates to the main entrance were bolted firmly shut from start to finish – the surest sign that racing was taking place behind closed doors.

The few "key personnel" granted access along with participants are instead diverted down to an inconspicuous side entrance and asked to form an orderly queue to have their temperatures taken. Strange times mean strange measures.