Henderson and Hobbs on top as Flat season begins to fade into the winter game

There is no defined point where the Flat season stops and the jumps season begins, to the irritation of those whose desks are always tidy because they were potty-trained at gun-point. Instead, one fades in as the other fades out, like the work of a clever DJ, or that bit where one Dr Who turns into the next one.

Our latest change has begun and it may be a confusing time for those not paying full attention. On Saturday, we were flicking between jumping at Chepstow and the Flat at Newmarket, but the last race in Wales had no obstacles while the big race at HQ was dominated by jumps trainers. Racing is really more of a spectrum than a binary thing and the likes of Alan King and Jessie Harrington have been moving nimbly along it for years.

It would be interesting to hear some discussion about why jumps trainers show up so well in marathon Flat races. Since 2013, Roger Charlton is the only out-and-out Flat trainer to have won the Cesarewitch. Perhaps it comes down to the type of horse that happens to be in the stable or perhaps the vital element is the fostering of stamina that goes on at jumps yards.