Racing's lost love for Newbury might be hitting home as track moves to improve image

Racing Post columnist Johnny Dineen has been in the game a long time and did not hold back when taking a swipe at Newbury last week. "I get the feeling its stature is slipping after a series of issues," the bookie-turned-pro punter wrote, adding the course was "losing its lustre".

The words were read with interest on Saturday by the course's chief executive Julian Thick, who did not dismiss them with a defensive shrug, but seemed keen to learn what was troubling Dineen. Perhaps Thick would also sit down with the well-known Lambourn figure who told me this week: "I used to go with my parents as a child, but they've spent the last few years trying to ruin the place."

Describing it as a troubled track might be stretching things, but it does feel those within the industry have lost a little love for the place. That should not be the case. The ground might be a shade quicker these days, but that could be a wider environmental problem, and racecourses do not come much more straightforward or fairer, while it is easy to get to – with a station on site to cater for rail travellers from London. In addition, the owner and trainers' facility is a sparkling one and the charm of the royal box remains for winning connections.