Rain gods finally got their way at Goodwood but we'd already had our share of drama

Even half a day of Glorious Goodwood is better than nothing and still much more enjoyable than the whole of some other sporting occasions, so let's give thanks for the four races we witnessed on Saturday with the plentiful drama they contained. Some anti-gambling deity was doing their darnedest all week to make trouble for the Sussex fixture by chucking down epic quantities of rain but all we lost was two handicaps and a maiden.

Having had the slowest Sussex Stakes on Wednesday, Saturday brought the slowest Stewards' Cup since at least the mid-80s, almost seven seconds slower than last year's, which is a big deal in the context of a race that normally takes just 70 seconds. Aberama Gold sploshed through the slop to score for the second weekend in a row, causing David O'Meara to thank his stars that the horse was sent to him when Keith Dalgleish retired.

Most people would be inclined to gnash their teeth at so narrowly missing out on such a victory and, in prize-money terms, this Stewards' Cup would have been the biggest of Dalgleish's career. But hopefully he is now so relaxed about having handed his burdens on to others that the news does not affect him.